Walking around town I noticed this tree and had to take some photos. At first I thought they were decorations, but alas it is a fungus. I've read that fungi are fascinating organisms offering a remarkable variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Many of these fungi grow on trees, and some are even edible....not that I'd want to eat them.
The most damaging part of a tree fungus usually isn't the part you see. The damaging part lives inside the tree, feeding on either living spores or dead wood.
Toadstools, puffballs, dwarf benches and mushrooms are just a few of the names given to describe some of the fungi that can be affecting the health of your trees.
Formerly thought of as a group of simple plants lacking chlorophyll, fungi are now classified as a separate kingdom of living organisms. Fungi cause disease when a spore germinates on a susceptible host under the appropriate environmental conditions, producing hyphae (threads of fungal tissue) that enter and feed on the host. Check out the different types of tree fungi.
I haven't seen any fungi on the trees in our yard, but if I do I will know how to treat fungus on a tree.
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