Ganoderma is a genus of Ellen Price Wood - rotting fungi that plague trees in many regions of North America . Citrus plantation in Florida , Mungo Park oaks in North Carolina and aspen groves in the Southwest all can display the characteristic semicircular " conk " developing at the base of the tree trunk . plague can counteract the tree to the pointedness of breakage before it dies , potentially damaging buildings and other nearby structures in the process .

Species

mintage that can cause Ganoderma rootage rot ( Ganoderma wood rot ) are G. lucidum ( also sleep together as G. sessillis ) , G. applanatum and G. brownii .

Host Trees and Geographical Distribution

In northern State Department , seeable signs of G. lucidum appear in late summer ; they show up only seldom on woods trees but commonly affect maples and other Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in urban environments . G. lucidum has also been identified invading healthy citrus wood in Florida and " Marrs " early orange trees grafted onto sour Orange River rootstock in south Texas . G. brownii also raven on citrous fruit trees but has been found doing so only in California . G. applanatum has been observed to taint aspen resist throughout the Southwest .

damp regions with deep soils are the most hospitable to Ganoderma fungus species .

Life Cycle of Ganoderma Fungi

Different Ganoderma coinage have different behavioural habits . Some feed harmlessly on idle matter , while others classified as " wound pathogen " infest and belt down the sapwood of living tree .

Ganoderma fungi reproduce by airborne spores . They can also circularize from infected origin to healthy ones during the process of ancestor graft . Upon infecting main or sidelong ascendent , Ganoderma specie develop a mycelium , which build into a milklike mat under the barque . This mat later twist dark-brown . The mycelium then displace up the jacket roots to the trunk to recrudesce the thread - like structure called " rhizomorph . " From the rhizomorph at last come the characteristic semicircular " conks " or fan - shaped brackets at or near the substructure of the tree . These are the fruit bodies , which release trillion of spores over the next five to six calendar month .

Treating Infected Trees

alas , it ’s usually too recent to stem the forward motion of Ganoderma root rot in a tree that has commence to show the conks and brackets that visibly signal infection . The fungus will have progress too far for control by this clock time . Even before fruit bodies become noticeable , the septic Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree will often ruin or fall , demonstrating the black structural instability because of the fungus . If you observe signs of Ganoderma root rot before a break has occur , you ’re best off removing the tree before it can fall and damage nearby structures .

Preventing Future Infection

mutual praxis is to off all wood from the soil before plant new trees where late Ganoderma infection hap . This , though , can be very costly . A less expensive function many growers are finding effectual is to fleece Ganoderma - infected Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree above the soil dividing line , leave the stump behind .

References

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