| Rare Ganoderma carnosa found on yew at Mote Park,
Maidstone
By Steve Smith
Unlike the other two British native conifers, yew has few fungal
associates and only two brackets occur. The rarest of these is Ganoderma
carnosa which was found high up on a yew tree in Mote Park, Maidstone
in October 2005 by Cliff Hansford. This shiny chestnut coloured
bracket grows only on yew and the Mote Park record is only the third
known sighting for the county. It has previously been recorded in
Beckenham and at Boxley in the 1980s.
Ganoderma carnosa © Cliff Hansford
A small piece of the bracket from Mote Bark has been sent to the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to be retained in the Herbarium.
The much commoner bracket that can often be seen on yew is chicken
of the woods Laetiporus sulphureus This very conspicuous annual
bright yellow to orange soft fleshy bracket can occur as early as
June or July.
It can remain on the tree till late in the year, by which time it
has lost its glory and is a dusty white colour.
Laetiporus sulphureus on yew at Minsterworth, Gloucestershire ©
Tim Hills
The only other common fungus which occurs on trunks and boughs
is Amylostereum laevigatum This forms flat smooth pinky grey areas
on boughs which look like patches of paint.
Steve Smith is Manager of Kent
and Medway Biological Records Centre |
