Physiology and decay activity of the birch conk fungus Polyporus betulinus (Bull.) Fr.

Abstract

The destructive activity on wood and the physiological behaviour of Polyporus betulinus have been studied. When attacking birch wood under favourable conditions P. betulinus proved able to cause a maximal weight loss of about 71 %. This was also true for Polyporus marginatus which was chosen as a comparative organism. Wood moisture increased steeply during the attack, at its peak reaching more than three times the moisture at the start. P. betulinus and P. marginatus did not cause so great a weight loss on birch sapwood as the most destructive white rotters. When attacking the wood the hyphae penetrated all the cells in all directions.

Keywords

physiology; fungi; Polyporus betulinus

Published in

Studia Forestalia Suecica
1965
Publisher: Skogshögskolan

UKÄ Subject classification

Botany
Forest Science

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/125309