A fungal disease which affects trees, specifically their butts. The butt is the area at the base of the trunk, at the soil-line. Various fungal species cause butt rot. Common butt rotting genera are Heterobasidion, Inonotus, and Armillaria. Many butt rotting species also cause root rot. If the rot doesn't out and out kill the tree, the decay of the tree's foundation will cause it to keel over when a strong enough wind kicks up. This obviously causes problems for the forest if there's an epidemic. However, normal decay is a natural part of any forest's life cycle.

Not to be confused with mycorrhizae.

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