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.