A to Z of Pests

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.