In the few days between Christmas and New Year, we took the opportunity to walk off the Christmas excess a bit and explore the crumbling veteran trees in the water fields at The Vyne National Trust property just outside Basingstoke.
To their credit, the Trust is able to leave these great broken down trees to collapse and rot away in their own time, and they are likely to be housing a whole range of flora and fauna whilst they do so.Once majestic, the trees are still very sculptural in their way, and reminded us of an old elephants graveyard, since there are a quite a number in the field which all appear to have gone down in more recent times. This one below, seemingly as dead as the proverbial Dodo, even showed signs of life at the rear with newly sticky buds forming on retrenched limbs.
One of the most impressive things to see was the presence of Exidia glandulosa, sometimes known as Black Witches Butter, growing on one of the old Oaks. A decay fungus that grows on fallen trees, it’s feels like a jelly or a sponge to the touch and grows in shiny black raised patches down the ribs of the bark, looking as though it’s oozing out of the centre of the tree! How very Harry Potter!
Have you got a fascinating fungus on your tree? Want some advice? For a free tree surgery quote, contact Andrew on 01256 817369 or 07771 883061; via andrew@primarytreesurgeons.co.uk; www.primarytreesurgeons.co.uk; Twitter @PrimaryTreeSurg