Brown stringy trunk rot

Cross-section of advanced decay symptoms Eric Allen

French disease name: Carie brune filandreuse
Pathogen name: Echinodontium tinctorium (Ellis & Everh.) Ellis & Everh.
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Russulales
Family: Echinodontiaceae

Distribution

Western Canada

Damage, symptoms and biology

This fungus is the main cause of heart rot and volume loss in mature hemlock and true firs. Sporophores are reliable indicators of defect and are associated with substantial volumes of decay. One fruiting body usually indicates that the entire cross section of the log is decayed for a distance of 2 m above, and 2.5 m below the conk (Fig. f). Decay may also be present in trees that do not bear sporophores.

Other information

Advanced stages of decay closely resemble equivalent stages of rot associated with Stereum sanguinolentum. The common name for Echinodontium tinctorium, "Indian paint fungus," is derived from the native Indian use of the ground sporophores in the preparation of red paint pigments. Losses may be reduced by harvesting at pathological rotation age. It has also been suggested that infection might be reduced by inducing natural self-pruning of suppressed branchlets, which are considered to be the major infection courts.