The Secret of the White Speckles on Eastern Redcedar Trees
Discover the secret behind the white speckles on Eastern Redcedar trees! It’s not paint, but a rare fungus, Dendrothele nivosa.
BRIT Collections
Botanical Research Institute of Texas | Fort Worth Botanic Garden
Eastern Redcedar
Eastern Redcedars (scientific name Juniperus virginiana) are native to the eastern United States but their range extends far west into Texas.
Juniperus virginiana
Don't be fooled by the common name. This tree is not a cedar tree at all! It is a juniper. This species is a member of the Cupressaceae family (cypress family). True cedars can be found in the Pinaceae family (pine family).
Bark of Eastern Redcedar
If you have ever looked closely at the bark of an Eastern Redcedar tree, you may have noticed scattered, white spots up and down the trunk and branches.
White Crust Fungus
These white spots are not white paint or bird excrement, but rather a unique crust fungus.
Dendrothele nivosa
The white crust fungus, Dendrothele nivosa, is picky when it comes to its host. You will only find it on Eastern Redcedar trees. It is thought that the low pH of the bark is preferred for this species.
Bot FungusLIFE Photo Collection
Why 'crust'?
Crust fungi, or corticioid fungi, are a group of mushrooms in which their spore-bearing structures, basidia, are smooth and relatively flat. This makes them appear very indiscrete, compared to other fungi with fleshier basidia like the bot fungus shown here.
Plant specimen (2018-03-11) by Hiromi KaragiannisOriginal Source: Observed on iNaturalist
Dendrothele nivosa
The Latin word 'nivosa' means 'snowy'
Plant specimen by Billy G. StoneBRIT Collections
Up very close
Here you can see an image of the spores of Dendrothele nivosa taken by a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The thin, flaky, bark of Juniperus virginiana provides the perfect habitat not only for the white crust fungus but other microscopic biodiversity as well.
Dendrothele and its ecology are still much of a mystery. But we can say, in general, that fungi and other small and microscopic organisms play a vital role in an ecosystem by recycling essential nutrients. There is so much waiting to be discovered on the surface of tree bark.
Story created by Ashley Bordelon, Philecology Herbarium, Botanical Research Institute of Texas and Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
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