AERIAL MYCELIAL TRANSFER BY HYMENOCHAETE-CORRUGATA BETWEEN STEMS OF HAZEL AND OTHER TREES

Individual mycelial genotypes (genets) of Hymenochaete corrugata are able to traverse the canopies of coppice-grown hazel, Corylus avellana, by producing sclerotized mycelial pads which bridge between and bind together contiguous stems from the same and different stools. The pads may also allow attachment to other trees, e.g. elm (Ulmus sp.), climbers, e.g. Clematis vitalba and fallen leaves. Underlying this hitherto unsuspected means of aerial spread in temperate woodland is the ability of the fungus to oscillate between distinctive modes of mycelial development, concomitant with production of melanized pseudosclerotial plates. © 1990, British Mycological Society. All rights reserved.