Shamel Ash Tree

• The Shamel ash tree is unique: It can be a semi-deciduous tree or an evergreen, depending upon where it is planted. The Shamel ash tree must be planted somewhere with a warm climate to become an evergreen; for a semi-deciduous tree, colder climate locations are necessary. This tree produces olives and is susceptible to Texas root rot as well as several types of white fungi.
  
  

White Fungus Types

• The Shamel ash tree can be affected by various white fungi, including artist's conk, sulfur fungus, oyster mushroom, common split gill, turkey tail and hairy turkey tail, according to the University of California. These growths usually indicate a problem or condition in the Shamel ash tree.
  
  

Time Frame

• The white fungi that can grow on Shamel ash trees have different time frames for occurrence. Some white fungi occur after a rain in the fall or winter. Some appear annually, right after the changing season's rain starts. Others are perennial, coming back year after year and adding new layers of fungus on top of the last one until the tree eventually dies.
  
  

Features

• Artist's conk affects the Shamel ash tree through a wound in the tree's trunk. This fungi features semicircular brown conks, with white lower portions that are 2 to 30 inches wide and 1 to 8 inches thick. This sulfur fungus doesn't turn white in color until it has aged, and it will usually not appear at all until extensive damage to the tree already exists. Oyster mushroom white fungus produces flat-capped white fungi and also develops through an open tree wound.
  
  White fungus caused by the common split gill, by contrast, is a result of heat, drought or sunburn and features clustered fruiting bodies that are hairy and white and between 1 to 4 inches in width. Both the turkey tail and the hairy turkey tail produce leathery bodies with dry, velvety surfaces arranged in concentric zones on the trees trunk, according to the University of California.
  
  

Warning

• Some white fungi that appear on shamel ash trees occur due to a recent wound in the trunk, but other fungi only appear after extensive internal tree damage. In the latter case, this can make the tree a potential landscape hazard.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• Having trees inspected by a professional is the best solution if you are unsure about how much damage the white fungus has done to the Shamel ash tree's overall health. A professional tree specialist can also assist with the proper pruning of any diseased or damaged limbs as well, which can help less extensively damaged trees survive.