Prognosis of Hen of the Woods infection

[treeseer]

Grifola is a saprophytic mushroom, ie it grows off of dead wood. In actually it is eating the dead roots of your tree and preventing a parasitic fungi from gaining a foothold. I wouldn't worry about the "infection" as it is actually anti-pathogenic.

Where did you hear/read that?

O and "reckon" is commonspeak here in the se usa.

 

[Pilze]

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/nov2006.html

The long and short of it is that the tree *is* dying, however; the fungus is maximizing its lifespan by preventing a parasitic infection.

 

[treeseer]

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/nov2006.html

The long and short of it is that the tree *is* dying, however; the fungus is maximizing its lifespan by preventing a parasitic infection.

"there is a dark side to all this: Grifola is a parasite of the oak tree, getting its nutrients from the roots. Fortunately it is a "good" parasite, not killing its food source but keeping it alive as long as possible in order to maximize its own life. Unfortunately, most of the time the host tree eventually dies, probably from a combination of the Grifola infection and environmental stresses such as drought and wind."

Pilze,
Tom Volk and/or his grad student say it is a parasitic infection. I do not know what they mean about it not killing its food source--are they saying it does not decay the wood? Hmm. Doesn't that mean that it is mutualist or commensalist instead of parasitic? Hmm.

 

[Pilze]

It doesn't attack the healthy roots, but it decays the damaged or dying roots. Grifola would take over the immune responsibilities in these dying parts and prevent something parasitic from gaining a foothold. An obligate parasitic fungus like honey mushroom would attack the weakened immune system in these locales and then move on to the healthy wood and kill the tree.

Even though the roots are damaged or dying they are still holding the tree in the ground, so long as they are still connected to the buttress of the tree. After they are softened and decayed, the trees motion in the wind or simply gravity could break them off and it would lose one of its "legs" that it stands on.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

So it is an efficient parasite.

I had first heard/read or something that it was a saprophyte, feeding on the dead roots. I was told at another occasion that that strategy could not account for the huge fruiting bodies, and you do not want to try to inoculate good trees with it, as you would with truffles.

Could it be that it is a symbiont that becomes opportunistic