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| These just came up like over night under my Magnolia tree in about 4 places. Thanks, Jeannie :) |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by jeannies_garden Texas 9 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 17:57
| This was the largest of them and was right outside of the flowerbed. Thanks, Jeannie :) |
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| Is your Magnolia tree in trouble? Fungus generally grows on decaying material, and it looks like this fungus may be growing on roots of your tree. |
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| Have you put down compost recently? They're usually a sign that you have a healthy,loamy soil. |
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| Bad news. That's the fruiting body of a terminal parasitic fungi called Armillaria. Magnolia grandiflora is one of the many host plants. Armillaria is known as a major root rot disease, but also infects the primary tree body. There is NO cure. I suggest that you keep a close eye on this tree. Once you see those mushrooms, Armillaria is well established. Look for obvious signs of die-back of the top, leaf fall, yellowing, etc. Be prepared to have the tree removed at some point.
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- Posted by jeannies_garden Texas 9 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 17, 12 at 22:52
| Great :( I just made a new flowerbed around the tree.....could that have caused the root rot? DH was insisting that I put something around the tree, so I planted rain lilies, and a couple of holly fern and some variegated peace lilies and one impatient. Maybe it was getting watered more than it was use to. Thanks, Jeannie :) |
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| Those fruiting bodies don't look the same to me, what do you think OP? Incidentally if you're in the central or western area of the state we have highly alkaline soils which Armillaria doesn't favor. Most likely you're seeing decay of old buried wood or compost. Nothing to be alarmed about. Holly Fern is a good choice, but rain-lilies really prefer full sun. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Armillaria
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- Posted by jeannies_garden Texas 9 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 18, 12 at 9:37
| Who's OP? They do look different. The 1st pic is closest to the base of the tree and the 2nd pic in about 4-5ft from the base of the tree. Hate to lose this beautiful tree :( Will be removing them this morning and watching tree. As for the rain lilies, I have so many of them throughout my yard I had extra to put up there. DH wanted them around the tree(we had them around an oak tree at our other home and they bloomed when it rained) and he made the flowerbed, so I planted them there. Thanks, Jeannie :) |
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| Your're the OP (original poster)! Where are you located generally? It will help diagnosis for some maladies. |
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- Posted by jeannies_garden Texas 9 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 18, 12 at 9:56
| Oh! I'm between Houston and Galveston. Southeast Texas. I did find a website that gave this info: "Trees affected by prolonged drought or attacked by rodents, bark beetles, or other fungi, particularly other root pathogens, can produce crown symptoms similar to those caused by Armillaria. Thus, additional evidence, often found on the roots and on the lower stem, is needed to diagnose the disease." We have had somewhat of a drought lately and it just rain pretty good the day before yesterday. Last year was really bad, we hardly had any rain all year, so I'm hopeing it's something other than Armillaria. Thanks, Jeannie :) |
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| Ok, so Armillaria is a possibility in East Texas. I'd remove any soil or Mulch from the crown (the area where the trunk meets the roots). Look for loose or cracked bark. If you see mycelium then most likely it's diseased. Keep that area open to the air to allow it to dry-out. |
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| Jeannie, mushrooms are the part of a fungus that are formed during the reproductive stage. Daylength plays a large role in mushroom production.....ever notice how you see more mushrooms all over town at the same time? Fall is a busy time. Fungal bodies consist of a much larger organism than those temporary mushrooms. Some are decomposers, feeding on dead wood. Those are called saprophytes and are beneficial to the environment. Others are mutualistic, and their association with plant roots is mutualistic....beneficial to the plant AND the fungus. Other fungi are parasitic....disease causing. Armillaria is one of those. It typically enters a plant's system via a wound of some kind and once that happens, it's pretty much too late. This is not a surface disease. It is often associated with the root system a d can be seen cropping up many feet away from the trunk, following the woody roots. Remove the mushrooms, by all means, but that can't stop the progression of the disease. How long your tree will survive depends upon its age, overall health and vigor. Remember, the actual fungal body is out of sight. By the way, last year's drought could absolutely have set your tree up for the onset of disease. We often see ongoing tree deaths years after such an event....but we just blame it on something else.
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- Posted by jeannies_garden Texas 9 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 18, 12 at 16:23
| I don't see any mycelium. Could it have been from injuring the roots when DH was digging the flowerbed? I'll just have to keep a eye on it. Thank you all for the info. Thanks, Jeannie :) |
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| Armillaria is also known as honey fungus or bootlace fungus here. If you can see black stringy threads under the soil I'm afraid that's what you have. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Honey fungus
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| Jeannie, without knowing a good history of this plant or this site, my first hunch is that the drought might have been the primary causal agent. Chopping around the root system didn't help. But, in reality, you never know for sure why, how, nor when your tree became infected. How old (or how big) is your tree? The older they are, the faster trees are likely to die. Also, is this a mature neighborhood?
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- Posted by jeannies_garden Texas 9 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 19, 12 at 17:49
| The tree is about 30ft tall and it is in an older neighborhood. Home was built in '77 so who knows how old the tree is. We purchased the home in '05 and at that time the tree looked neglected....but now it is green leaved and beautiful. It bloomed so much this year and we were thinking the fertilizing and watering made it very happy. Looked on the honey fungus website and the mushrooms did look like them, but I see no black anything or any white in the roots or in the bark up the tree. I used a small shovel and they came up easy in one large clump. Only one had the white powdery stuff under it, but very small amount. After reading on the website that the magnolia will bloom a lot right before they die, may be what it is doing. I'll just watch it and see. Thanks again for all the help and info, Jeannie :) |
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