Trees and Fungi

This history of relationship of fungi is a complex one as much has been lost to history. What we do know is that some of the earliest fossils of land plants bear fossilized arbuscular mycorrhizal mycelia on their roots. Many millions of years later we have learned that ectomycorrhizal fungi first were saprotrophic (decomposer) fungi that came to suppress their enzymes which degrade lignin and cellulose and work with their plant. In the realm of saprotrophs, it appears that brown rot (cellulose decaying) came first before any fungi cracked the enzymatic code to degrade lignin (white rot fungi). Its only in recent times have some brilliant mycologist learned that there are more than just endo (arbuscular) and ectomycorrhizal fungi, that brown and white rot fungi is a spectrum and not hard delineation, and that some saprotrophs arborist long thought of as no good for trees actually live as endophytes in their host tree, sometimes with benefit to the tree, to only later take up a more degradative role.

Nature is more complex than is convenient for human text books, which is why it helps to have experts like Sierra Fungi and Tree assist you with your Tree and Mushroom questions.

Is this mushroom harming my tree? Will mycorrhiza supplements make my trees healthier? are ways to treat tree diseases without cutting a tree down or using chemical pesticides? a consultation with Sierra Tree and Fungi will