PORIA

First reports of Meruliporia incrassata destruction surfaced in 1913 in the southeastern United States, where forest products were the suspected origin of the fungus-abound. There is no record of the first reported case of Meruliporia in California, according to Wayne Wilcox, a UC Berkeley forestry professor, but scientists discovered the telltale spores on three coastal redwoods in 1924. Infestations of Meruliporia are rare. Only 15 cases were reported state wide by 1968, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study.