BajaNomad

Lets ID the tree killing fungus in La Paz

JESSE - 6-19-2009 at 10:35 AM

Ok, so for years now, La Paz has been fighting and losing a war against a fungus. This little terrorist has been killing some of the most beautiful and oldest trees in town. The main victims are:



Tamarind



Ficus Benjamina


The culprit:






If anybody can ID this disease and help us to find a way to protect trees from it, it would be great as many people are losing their trees to this disease, and dont even know what it is.

Usually you realize the tree has the disease because it suddenly starts losing all of their leaves, and simply die. After a week, the fungi pops out at the base of the tree.

longlegsinlapaz - 6-19-2009 at 10:50 AM

Jesse, I'm very familiar with seeing those growing on evergreen trees in Pacific Northwest forests. Their called Conch. I've never seen one here, nor would I have expected to, I thought they only grew in wet/shady areas.

I did a quick search for Conch & this is one of the sites that came up, which tells me it's definitely NOT just a Pacific Northwest problem. The following is a good place to start gathering some information:

http://www.palmworld.net/Diseases.htm

I'll keep looking & if I can find better information, I'll post it.

This is who i think its doing this.

JESSE - 6-19-2009 at 10:50 AM

Trametes hirsuta

Scientific name: Trametes hirsuta (Wulf.:Fr.) Pil.
Derivation of name: Trametes means "one who is thin";
hirsuta means "hairy with rather coarse, erect or ascending
hairs."
Synonymy: Polyporus hirsutus Wulf.: Fr.
Common names:
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Order: Polyporales
Family: Polyporaceae
Occurrence on wood substrate: Saprobic; solitary or
clustered, often overlapping, mostly on dead deciduous
wood; year-round.
Dimensions: Caps 1.5-10 cm wide, 1.5-6 cm long, and up
to 2 cm thick.
Upper surface: Densely hairy; grayish to yellowish
or brownish, often with brownish margin; zonate or not;
usually concentrically grooved.
Pore surface: White to tan or grayish; 3-4 per mm.
Edibility: Inedible.
Comments: Trametes hirsuta exhibits a good amount of
variation in the appearance of the cap and pore surfaces,
making identification sometimes uncertain.

longlegsinlapaz - 6-19-2009 at 11:16 AM

Jesse, the Conch shown in the pic you posted is:

Ganoderma Conch

http://www.mangrovegarden.org/ganoderma.html

And the prognosis is not good!:no::no:

JESSE - 6-19-2009 at 11:23 AM

S***!!!! i hope its not Ganoderma, it seems bad.

longlegsinlapaz - 6-19-2009 at 11:57 AM

Are there any accredited Arborists in La Paz? Would that fall under SEMARNAT's authority....Environmental Protection? CIB'S....they are involved in test plantings of some non-native trees in the Comitan area & they are a biological research laboratory. Just a thought.

JESSE - 6-19-2009 at 12:09 PM

I donīt know, but let me see if PROFEPA knows anything.

Conch fungus

bajajazz - 6-19-2009 at 12:15 PM

Over the years I've lost two Tabuchim (sp?) trees to this culprit. The last one is waiting to be cut down and removed soon. After that's done, I'd like to know what I should do to purify the soil surrounding the stump area. I think I'll hire the guys who work out of the vivero at the north end of Revolucion and if they know anything about this I'll pass the information along. :?:

longlegsinlapaz - 6-19-2009 at 12:25 PM

Jazz....the following site tells how to sterilize the soil....but it's a serious process & you still can't plant there for at least a year. Talks about sterilizing tools, shovels, picks, saws as well to prevent spreading disease to other areas.

http://www.mangrovegarden.org/ganoderma.html

Ganoderma

Sharksbaja - 6-19-2009 at 02:30 PM

This photo:




is picture of Ganoderm Lucidum sp. possibly Ganoderma Oregonense found in the PNW.

It may be of interesting for you to know that the former is known as the "1000 year mushroom" in Asia because of it's medicinal value. This fungus is an ascomycedes meaning the spores are harbored in pits rather than the common gill type (basidiomycedes) most folks atre used to.
They make beautiful decorative objects and fetch large sums for the more unusual shapes they can be trained to take. I have several in my collection. The g.oregonense I have are from our back yard.

The "Ganoderma" species killing palms , ficus etc. while related does not share the same lifecycle as those NW counterparts wherein the "Conk" or rather, "fruitbody" forms after the fungus(mycelium) grows thru dying or recently cut wood beneath the bark and may grow these beautiful appendages for many years.

While it seems like it happens fast Jesse the fungus has been growing for quite a while inside the tree. Only when humidity and temp and other factors are just right will thos e fruitbodies(conks) appear.

I have never seen either of the species I am familiar with grow out of living trees.

btw. that photo at the bottom looks more like the "belted polypores" we have here.

I just wonder if there isn't some underlying disease killing off trees in La Paz

Here is one I posted on Wiki:





[Edited on 6-19-2009 by Sharksbaja]

flyfishinPam - 6-19-2009 at 03:34 PM

cool, I'll have a look at my mycology books when I get home.

the plants you have photographed that have this fungus are all introduced. this is one of the problems with introduced plants into an area. likely they're reaching or have reached their tolerence limits on several variables such as heat, humidity, drought, polution, etc so their natural defensed have been compromised to the point that they're more suseptible to disease. this is an example. I would be surprised if you could show me examples of native plants in their natural habitats with this organism.

Mexitron - 6-19-2009 at 07:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by flyfishinPam
cool, I'll have a look at my mycology books when I get home.

the plants you have photographed that have this fungus are all introduced. this is one of the problems with introduced plants into an area. likely they're reaching or have reached their tolerence limits on several variables such as heat, humidity, drought, polution, etc so their natural defensed have been compromised to the point that they're more suseptible to disease. this is an example. I would be surprised if you could show me examples of native plants in their natural habitats with this organism.


That's been my experience too with diseases, fungi, etc.--the more the plant is under stress of some kind the more susceptible it is--so take good care of the trees that are still living--make sure the watering level is okay, mulch the ground beneath to cool the roots down, shoot a little fertilizer now and then--prevention is the key.