Tree Fungi

We have an unusual fungi growth on a tree we had trimmed 4 weeks ago where a dead branch had been removed. You can see growth just in the 3 days between the first and latest photos were taken. The tree advisor contacted a professor from Ohio State and they may remove the growth this Wednesday for use in his classroom. Unfortunately the tree will need to be taken down as the fungi is an indication of problems within. I'll update this entry as growth continues and as the tree disappears.
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Update - 9/30/09 - The fungi is gone. The arborist and the OSU professor ooohhhed and aaahhhed and cut it off late this afternoon. We'll hear about the class reactions soon I hope. More photos were added to the series above. For a couple of them I climbed to the very top of our house roof to try to get an angle to show the top of the fungi - successfully.