Aspen Bracket — Andreas Kunze / CC BY-SA 3.0

Fungus · Hymenochaetaceae

Aspen Bracket

Phellinus tremulae

Facts

Habitat: Living Aspen trunks in boreal and montane mixed woodland; strictly host-specific
Substrate: Parasitic, white heart rot of living Aspen

Ecological relationships

Parasitises

AspenPopulus tremula
Obligate host-specific white-rot parasite of Aspen; causes the heartwood decay essential for cavity-nesting birds.

Symbiosis with

Black WoodpeckerDryocopus martius
Black Woodpecker preferentially excavates nest cavities in aspen trunks infected by this fungus; decay softens heartwood to enable excavation (Zahner et al. 2012).