User:Pogoaidan/sandbox

Inonotus Andersonii

Canker Rot of Oak

Hosts and symptoms

Canker rot of Oak is a fungal pathogen that mostly affects red and black oaks. The pathogen is a white rot that eats lignin from the inside of the tree. Inonotus andersonii first attacks the heartwood of a tree before working its way out to the inner bark. Death of the tree results when the vascular cambium of the tree is broken down by the fungus, effectively girdling the tree and killing it. In the fruiting body stage of the fungus, peg like conks are projected out from the bark. These conks can be bright yellow to dull brown and grow up to 20 inches out from the tree. Most degrade after a couple weeks, but some other species of Inonotus can produce conks that will fruit up to five years. Trees that have been killed by Inonotus andersonii often have exposed blackened inner bark and dead conks that are caused by residual dead fungus, commonly mistaken as fire damage.

Environment

Inonotus andersonii is a common plant pathogen across the United States. The pathogen is a basidiomycete, and the spores enter red and black oaks through wounds in the tree. These wounds are usually stubs of broken branches. Broken branch stubs that are about 16 feet off the ground are most prone to infection. The conks usually form on the trees from summer to early autumn and take one or two weeks to reach maturity. The optimal temperature for the fungus to grow at is 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The pathogen has been a very big issue in many oak forests in California where it gets very warm. Inonotus andersonii decays the heartwood of the trees, but the disease is not usually very lethal by itself. However, it can increase the chance of death for plants already sick with sudden oak death disease.

Management

Because the pathogen is a fungus spread by spores, the goal is to reduce the capacity of the spores to enter the inner xylem of the plant. Hire a professional arborist to make any required cuts on oak trees in order to reduce the chance of infection through a wound. Any branches believed to be infected should be removed, as well as any branches with open large wounds. If branches are trimmed in early spring or late winter, then there’s a higher chance the tree will be able to heal the wound before the weather is warm enough for spores to disseminate and infect the tree. Any large trees believed infected with I. Andersonii should be cut down immediately, especially if there is suspicion the tree might also have sudden oak death. These trees can fall on homes or people and cause massive property damage or injury without much warning.