Piptoporus betulinus

Infection of buttress, trunks and branches arises through wounds in bark and broken branches. After 2-3 years of parasiting, at the place of infection on the trunk surface grow annual fruiting bodies of the fungus. When young, the fruiting body is soft, with age it becomes cork-like hard. The upper side is covered with an ochre white paper-like membrane that later cracks irregularly. Pores are white to ochre. Especially weakened trees, e.g. by drought, shading and so on, are predisposed to infection. The mycelium causes reddish brown rot of attacked wood. Rotting wood is very frail, it breaks down in a cube-like way. The cracks are filled up with soft scraps of the creamy white mycelium.