Ancient oak

[Mal Greaves]

Unlike some areas we have had some rain. Not enough for the garden or the golf course but enough to get the fungi going. Having found my first Oak Polypore last year I have been searching Ancient woodland in our area and so far have managed to find four different trees with it growing. The best is about 15' up and so the photo is not the best

Piptoporus quercinum

but still happy to have found it.

[Roy Miller [S Weald]]

On those few days it has rained here, it has been enough of an enticement for some opportunistic fungi to put in an appearance. Hence, some of my discoveries this year.

Brilliant find, by the way (unless you were in Windsor Park)

[Mal Greaves]

I was told by Martyn Ainsworth that four finds is good but there are 100 known sites in Windsor Park so a little way to go.

[Neil]

I was about to say I have never seen an Oak Poly' orientated this way before ........ until I realised you mentioned it was 15ft up the tree.
The highest I've found one so far is 12ft up, although they can be found 30+ ft up. The average height for those I find on standing Oak are usually waist to chest height, but by far, the vast majority I find are on large wind damaged branches laying on the ground where they fell, hence the importance of not being too tidy and leaving dead wood on the ground.

This can lead to management problems, such as access for grass cutting machinery if in a park, or bracken control, but if a large branch were to fall in an inconvenient position, there is no harm in shifting or dragging it to a more convenient position, but please try to avoid using a chainsaw.

It would be interesting to hear from others where they find most of their Oak Poly's growing (tree or fallen branches) and if any reader has to maintain grounds where Oak Poly's are present (such as what instructions are given)

Neil Mahler.

[Mal Greaves]

Neil
Two of mine were on standing trees one on a fallen tree and one on a relatively small fallen branch.

[Leif Goodwin]

I searched Puttenham Common a week or two ago, and found two yellow brackets, one inside a dead Oak, and one high up on a living branch. Both were out of reach and I assumed that they were Laetiporus. How can you be sure if they are out of reach?

[Mal Greaves]

Leif
The only real way is to go back and see how they have developed. Once they have grown a bit there will be no problem in identifying which they are.

[Neil]

I've found about 5 different brackets inside old hollow Oaks so I would say this is an important area to include in your search.
Two years ago I even found one on an area of scorched (black) Oak, where there had been a fire inside. I frequently find them on barkless, fallen branches about 6in diameter, but where the fallen branches are really weathered, they can have very sharp points and It can be very painful moving slowly through the tall bracken and suddenly getting stabbed in the thigh - ouch!

Sometimes, even Fistulina hepatica can be mistaken for Oak Poly when it is growing very high up as it is most likely to be silhouetted against the sky.
As far as I know, Oak Poly has still never been found on Oak under 250 years old and it always grows from the heartwood, never directly on bark.
In Suffolk, and I'm sure other counties, browsing by deer leads to many young Oak Poly brackets being eaten, but I've come across this so many times I can confidently still ID an Oak Poly when it has been eaten to the point of attachment.

Lief, your bracket inside the hollow sounds very promising. As for the bracket growing high up ....... were you any good as a kid throwing sticks to get the conkers down ?

I should remind other readers that the Oak Polypore is a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species and it is therefore illegal to remove brackets, but as with other rare species given publicity, it is known that the Oak Poly is more widespread than previously thought.

Neil.

[Leif Goodwin]

Thanks for the information. I might pop back and look again. The highest had multiple brackets which I think rules out the Oak polypore. The other appeared two years running, but is unreachable, and pretty much unphotographable barring use of a ladder, though I have not ruled that one out. I have been 2 metres up a tree with a camera before. Of course I would not throw stones at the brackets! I know you were joking. I think it used to be considered rather rare, but some people do seem to find a lot. Mind you, Windsor Park is rather special for rare fungi. I hope to search old Oaks again this weekend on the off chance.