Integrative Natural History of Minnesota's North Shore, Part 16: A Lesson in Birch Mortality | Duluth
Taken in Kitchi Gammi Park, just a bit up the Lake Superior coast from the glacially abraded basalt outcrop featured in Parts 9-15 of this series.
The fact that this small grove of Paper Birches (Betula papyrifera) have leafless branches is no surprise. Up and down the North Shore, bud break for this ubiquitous species was just beginning, here in the third week of May.
That said, the tree in the foreground is either fully dead, or well on its way out. It has become a host for the fungal brown-rot parasite Fomitopsis (formerly Piptoporus) betulina. It is commonly known as the Birch Polypore.
In this photo, three of its persistent, bracket-type fruiting bodies have emerged from the afflicted plant's bark. They have a particularly elegant and sculptural look to them, and resemble downward-pointing air scoops, radar antennae, and certain other things that will be discussed, along with one of its human uses, in the description accompanying the Part 17 close-up shot.
To see the other photos and descriptions of this series, visit
my Integrative Natural History of Minnesota's North Shore album.
Integrative Natural History of Minnesota's North Shore, Part 16: A Lesson in Birch Mortality | Duluth
Taken in Kitchi Gammi Park, just a bit up the Lake Superior coast from the glacially abraded basalt outcrop featured in Parts 9-15 of this series.
The fact that this small grove of Paper Birches (Betula papyrifera) have leafless branches is no surprise. Up and down the North Shore, bud break for this ubiquitous species was just beginning, here in the third week of May.
That said, the tree in the foreground is either fully dead, or well on its way out. It has become a host for the fungal brown-rot parasite Fomitopsis (formerly Piptoporus) betulina. It is commonly known as the Birch Polypore.
In this photo, three of its persistent, bracket-type fruiting bodies have emerged from the afflicted plant's bark. They have a particularly elegant and sculptural look to them, and resemble downward-pointing air scoops, radar antennae, and certain other things that will be discussed, along with one of its human uses, in the description accompanying the Part 17 close-up shot.
To see the other photos and descriptions of this series, visit
my Integrative Natural History of Minnesota's North Shore album.