I managed to make good use of the very nice weather in the south east today by going out for a stroll. I thought I’d direct my efforts around an area with a load of mature horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum), which form avenues along residential roads, as they’re almost certainly going to provide for some fungal identification opportunities. Lo and behold, they didn’t disappoint. I came across a Ganoderma sp. (suspected G. applanatum syn. G. lipsiense) and also a very inconspicuous Rigidoporus ulmarius (shared below). Unfortunately, I found no overt evidence of Ustulina deusta (syn. Kretzschmaria deusta), though some recently stump-ground trees may have been felled for that reason (given it’s a fungus that usually spells the end for urban trees with marked target zones, unfortunately). Unfortunately, no sign of re-planting (this avenue may very well, in time, cease to be). If I had found some Kretz, then I’d have seen a white rot, brown rot, and soft rot (respectively). In an ideal world…
Anyway, here’s a few shots of the Rigidoporus ulmarius. I was ushered away by my girlfriend, who commented that it’s odd to take photos of trees and people would be wondering what on earth I was doing, so unfortunately I couldn’t stay for too long on this one (hence the ‘rushed’ shots).
Arboriculture 