Dry Rot
Serpula lacrymans
Appearance
- Mycellium: white-ish yellow, yellow-ish brown.
- Hyphae: yellow-ish brown or dark brown.
- Sporophore: thin plate-like creamy yellow, then olive brown.
- Spores: bulk spores are olive brown.
Lifecycle
- Decay fungi are living organisms which send minute threads called hyphae through damp wood, taking their food from the wood as they grow.
Habits
- It most often occurs in damp timber which is in contact with, or embedded in, wet brickwork or masonry.
- Symptoms are: timber cracking, fruiting bodies, red dust or an acrid mushroom smell.
- It has been known to transport water up three storeys of a building to an area where decay is occurring.