Habitat and Ecology
It occurs in riverside shrubs and forests associations with Tamarix species, growing as a weak parasite on Tamarix spp. The fungus infects weakened individuals and it can develop on both living and dead Tamarix trunks (Chinan et al. 2015) causing a white rot of the heartwood (Bondartseva and Parmasto 1986).
In North Macedonia it is found in warm regions with Mediterranean influence along the riversides in associations where its main host – Tamarix spp. is present.
It has been observed at five sites, as follows: in the southern part of the country where the largest populations of Tamarix parviflora are found – in the vicinity of Demir Kapija, Davidovo, Grcishte and Gjavato, and in central part of the country – in the area Creska. In the absence of a habitat map, on the basis of literature on distribution of Tamarix spp., a higher number of sites are expected in the country. The host occurs along the river banks of ten larger rivers, as follows: the Vardar, Babuna, Bregalnica, Pcinja, Crna Reka, Bosava, Vojshanska Reka, Konjska, Crn Drim and the Radika (Micevski 1995). Inonotus tamaricis is anticipated to be found in the warmer areas where the host occurs. The species is easily identified but it has not been searched for extensively in the past; thus, the total number of sites is guesstimated to be higher by at least 5 to maximum 10 times, resulting in ca. 50 sites.
