Stem Decays

Red ring rot is a hugely important stem-decay disease, certainly the most important one on conifers in the northern hemisphere. In preparing the page on red ring rot, I found that current knowledge of the pathogens involved was complex and uncertain. Here are the details, including my conclusions (opinions) based on the literature. But certainly … Read more

The last few weeks have been a real eye-opener with respect to Porodaedalea pini. In my four years in the Colorado area, I had only seen the stem decay fungus on Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii). However in the last two weeks I have seen it on lodgepole pine, subalpine fir, and Douglas-fir. The new finds … Read more