Spalting

[1]Spalting is divided into three main types: pigmentation, white rot, and zone lines.

Primarily found on hardwoods, these fungi "bleach" by consuming lignin, which is the slightly pigmented area of a wood cell wall.

[10] Both strength and weight loss occur with white rot decay, causing the "punky" area often referred to by woodworkers.

Brown rots, the "unpleasing" type of spalting, do not degrade lignin, thus creating a crumbly, cracked surface which cannot be stabilized.

The lines are often clumps of hard, dark mycelium, referred to as pseudosclerotial plate formation.

[5][12] Water: Wood must be saturated to a 20% moisture content or higher for fungal colonization to occur.

[1] Colonization continued to progress after this time period, but the structural integrity of the wood was compromised.

The same study also found that Polyporus brumalis, when paired with Trametes versicolor, required 10 weeks to spalt the same size cubes.

However, recent research suggests that sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and aspen (Populus sp.)

[22] Trametes versicolor, (Basidiomycetes) is found all over the world and is a quick and efficient white rot of hardwoods.

A method for improving machinability in spalted wood using methyl methacrylate was developed in 1982,[24] and several white rot fungi responsible for zone line formation were identified in 1987.