Phaeolus schweinitzii

(Fr.) Pat.

At the base of wild cherry in Richmond, London.
Developing brackets on Scot’s pine in Thorndon Country Park, Essex
On wild cherry (same as ‘a’) one week earlier wherein the bracket is far more orange-yellow
Senescent brackets remaining attached to the host Scot’s pine near Windsor Great Park, Surrey
Senescent brackets 10m up an Atlantic cedar at the location of past failure in Runnymede, Surrey

At the base of wild cherry in Richmond, London.
Developing brackets on Scot’s pine in Thorndon Country Park, Essex
On wild cherry (same as ‘a’) one week earlier wherein the bracket is far more orange-yellow
Senescent brackets remaining attached to the host Scot’s pine near Windsor Great Park, Surrey
Senescent brackets 10m up an Atlantic cedar at the location of past failure in Runnymede, Surrey
A fruit body high up within the scaffold crown of a cedar of Lebanon in Southampton, UK.
Senescent fruit bodies at the base of cedar of Lebandon in Runnymede, UK.
Developing fruit bodies on a pine stump in Brentwood, UK.
Mature fruit body on pine in Brentwood, UK.
Showing the rim details and pore surface of mature brackets on a pine stem in Brentwood, UK.

Common name

Dyer’s maze gill.

Often found on

Fir, larch, pine, spruce.

Sometimes found on

Cherry, and other broad-leaved species.

Location

Found usually at the base of the tree / out on structural roots – may be found up the trunk on larger trees. Persists on dead trees and stumps.

Description

Annual. Soft when fresh. A little rubbery / corky. Singularly or in close overlapping groups. Begins as a strikingly yellowish mass before quickly developing into a bracket that is brownish-purple on the upper surface. Bruises brownish-purple where areas are still fresh and yellow. Pore surface white-brown. Maze-like pores. Bruises when touched. When growing from buried roots, a stem may be present, to elevate the bracket. Desiccates to a dark brown-purple and hardens.

Confused with

Inonotus hispidus (different host range – not on roots); Laetiporus sulphureus (different host range – remains yellow).

Significance

Attributed to a cubical brown rot of the heartwood. Attributed to stem failure and root failure. Causes cavity formation. May enter via root-to-root contact or active pathogenesis, as has been demonstrated in North America on slash pine (Pinus elliottii). Where targets exist, investigations into structural stability and hollowness may be required.