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  1. KTSmith

    Alex Shigo anniversary

    As for cause of death, no need for it to be a mystery. He slipped and fell at his summer lake home (about 20 minutes from his "regular" home in Durham, NH). His lakeside "cottage" was indeed that, a seasonal residence cobbled together. His summer home office was essentially a walk-out into...
  2. KTSmith

    Alex Shigo anniversary

    Just a little reminder that this is the anniversary of Dr. Shigo's accidental death in 2006 in Barrington, NH. After careers as a musician and a US Forest Service researcher, he became an entrepeneurial author and book publisher from about 1986 forward. His landmark works A New Tree Biology and...
  3. KTSmith

    Fungus on Timbers?

    Oh well, I was trying to make the most of a teaching opportunity. Short form: 1. Although impossible to identify to species, the whitish mat is the body of a fungus (Basidiomycetes) that is currently decaying those timbers. Precise identification of mat-forming fungi merely from photos is...
  4. KTSmith

    Fungus on Timbers?

    The photos show none of the characteristics necessary for an authoritative identification to species. However, I'll play along a bit. It definitely looks to be a decay fungus of "wood in service", which is the term used for milled wood that is being used as a structural material, unlike wood in...
  5. KTSmith

    Hey Look at My Crud...

    Yes! A stinkhorn. Not genus Phallus, as you might think, but likely Caninus mutinus, the dog stinkhorn. And that sort of mulched bed / organic forest floor setting is just what they like!
  6. KTSmith

    Hey Look at My Crud...

    Thanks Evo, yes, I usually see them with bands of brown to almost black, with the cap upper surface seemingly at duff level or just above. Usually when I see them, they are over-mature and fragmenting and look much like bark on dead buttress root. I've been fooled! Also, to be fair, the pore...
  7. KTSmith

    Hey Look at My Crud...

    For the fuzzy yellow one, I'd start with the Dyer's Polypore, Phaeolus schweinitzii. Pretty common on spruce and some other conifers in the north. Grows at the tree base or from woody roots that are being decayed. Starts out yellow. At maturity, the upper surface of the cap may be banded yellow...
  8. KTSmith

    Hey Look at My Crud...

    Wonderful Monotropa! Maybe folks might like some background which to JD is old hat. Perfectly self-respecting heath flowers (family Ericaceae). This is an unusual achlorophyllous genus which rather than making its own food through photosynthesis, it breaks down the carbohydrates formed by the...
  9. KTSmith

    Hey Look at My Crud...

    OK, I'll bite. I'd start with genus Lepiota (or Macrolepiota, to be more current). The "parasol fungus", a prominent edible, is L. procera. Unfortunately, there are some toxic (to lethality) members of the genus. Give it time, I expect it will form a flat cap.
  10. KTSmith

    Honey locust fungi

    So I did mention Ganoderma, but as the "hedge bet". I'd still start with a resinous weeper, Ischnoderma resinosum. I say "start with" because identification is based on what we have handy. If the sample itself were at hand, I'd next try to find reasons why it "isn't" I. resinosum. That might...
  11. KTSmith

    Honey locust fungi

    Sorry to need a special invitation! I'd start with a resinous weeper, Ischnoderma resinosum. This one is highly variable as a little guy. I know, some of those are large-ish but they also look like they've been mechanically whacked, so lots of growth response and upward-facing pore surface. I'm...
  12. KTSmith

    Help me ID this tree please, street tree in the PNW, thank you

    Ok, we see the exfoliative ("lacy") bark. You might have more of a helpful response if you show us the characteristic features upon which to base an identification. Try some in-focus closeups with a contrasting background of leaves and leaf attachment, buds, mature bark (I know, there may not be...
  13. KTSmith

    Need Help

    Have you seen any flowers? Might it be a sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica) or some other gum? Any chance of an in-focus closeup of branchlets and buds?
  14. KTSmith

    Bark on—-bark off? Smoking food

    Thanks Tom, both the burning of wood and the burning of bark at grilling / barbecue temperatures produce a rich mix of partially burnt hydrocarbons that interacts with the melting/charring fat and protein of the meat and provides that taste we love so much. As you know and as pointed out by...
  15. KTSmith

    Which variety of red oak?

    Sorry to be confusing! My fault, I was being technically rigorous, which is not always the best path here. "Northern red oak" and "shumard oak", etc. are indeed naturally occurring species, which is what I believe you meant. I was briefly confused by "varieties" which botanically are cultivars...
  16. KTSmith

    Which variety of red oak?

    At first, I thought the original query was for which species of oak are represented by those two trees. If horticultural varieties are the target, I'm out of my depth. Given the limitations of tree identification from leaves, I'd collect a few leaves, sit down quietly with good light and a...
  17. KTSmith

    Which variety of red oak?

    A pretty good field guide to oaks of eastern North America is at: https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/fieldguide.pdf A critical observation is of the presence/absence and location of fine hairs on the leaves. This will likely require a handlens. Look on the underside of several...
  18. KTSmith

    Al and Ca from low pH--is whitewashing trunks the answer?

    Thanks Guy for the email earlier this morning. And if any Buzzers are interested, that paper is available here. I would expect that the biggest effect of a Ca drench would be an increase in pH (= reduction in acidity) at the treated surfaces. Calcium and trees have an interesting...
  19. KTSmith

    Hey Look at My Crud...

    So all three images are of the same Norway maple, zooming in on a lachrymose/resinous polypore. This is right across the street from my house in Portland, ME. I expect it to be Ischnoderma resinosum but I suppose it could be Inonotus dryadeus. Will know more when an actual bracket gets produced...
  20. KTSmith

    Hollow veteran Linden (400yr+) - recommendations?

    Thanks Poot, your experience with Tilia in Europe is deeper than mine. I humbly defer. Actually, it was the Romanian example that set me off. No dendrochronologist would give an age plus/minus anything. Part of the central dogma of dendrochronology is the absolute assignment of the year of ring...

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