Hey this is interesting ... the marri tree I thought was killed by the Armillaria fungi has come back to life. It lives about fifty metres from my house and has done so for at least the last century. Now it's sending out epicormic growth, which means it's stressed but a whole lot better than being dead. Here is something I wrote about the tree, that ancient King, a few years ago.
"The armillarias killed the old marri down by the inlet shore in the winter. Armillaria mycelium is no friendly communicant for trees but its aggressor and will feed on the decaying carcass for decades. The thugs of the fungi kingdom. The mushrooms, beautiful sheaves of gold, perfect and succulent, climbed the craggy bark like marauders up the castle keep, relentless, until they cancered the ancient king."
We shall by morning
Inherit the earth,
Our foot’s in the door.
Sylvia Plath, 'Mushrooms'
Fungi deserves to inherit the Earth. We could not live without it.
ReplyDeleteIt's the wildest thing ever, next to lichen. This armillaria (which I think is endemic to our area) kills trees though, and then lives on the rotting wood for more than a decade. That's why I think it's so interesting that this tree is coming back.
DeleteFungi saves us everyday.
ReplyDeleteTotally, think WW2, at least when it came to humans. That bread fungi really came in handy.
DeleteThe tree has a strong will to live, despite the fungi. It is a contest: tree v. fungi.
ReplyDeleteSo far the tree is winning. I haven't seen the mushrooms on this particular tree for a year or so.
ReplyDelete