Chicken of the woods / Sulphur fungus (Laetiporus sulphureus)

Common host(s)                    Most commonly oak, but also sweet chestnut, ash, walnut, elm and conifers including yew.

Colonisation strategy            Gains entry through bark injuries, fresh wounds, branch stubs or injured roots.

Symptoms                              Annual fruiting bodies with oak and yew as preferences. Pore-bearing, fan-shaped to semi-circular fruiting bodies. Yellow/orange. When main flesh dries to a paler colour the margins remain yellow. Compact, tiered layers of wavy-edged fronds singly or in clusters.

Type of rot                             Intense brown cubical rot. Especially heartwood.

Part(s) of tree affected          Stem, stem base, and roots. Also found on main branches.

Significance                            Severely weakens the tree and causes a brittle fracture.

All photographs are reproduced by kind permission of the Arboricultural Information Exchange