Growth on my 100 year old apple tree. Is it safe?

Sean 80

I have this beautiful looking growth on my apple tree. Underneath it’s oozing some sticky sap. It looks amazing so I am reluctant to remove it unless it is harmful. The apple tree is over a 100 years old.
can any one advise?

pansyface

It’s a polypore or bracket fungus. 

What you are looking at is the fruiting body. The greater part of the fungus is behind the tree bark.

Bracket fungi are a sign of a dying tree.  There is nothing you can do. It’s just a fact of life.

Your tree may live on for several years yet so enjoy it while you have it.

mikky.

We have loads of these fungi on our silver birch trees in our woods.
I collect them and have loads in the wood shed drying out, excellent kindling for the winter, plus the dead 'birch as well.  

wild edges

It's worth getting a proper ID on this I think. Some brackets only feed on dead wood so cause trees to become hollow but don't kill the living tissue (the heart wood of trees is technically dead wood) and some bracket fungae parasite living wood and kill the tree. Yours may be fairly harmless and like pansyface said it could be just a sign that the tree is on the way out anyway. If it's something more harmful though you might be able to stop it spreading to other trees even if you can't save yours.