Decay

[simonm]

What is the cause of this on a Sycamore? how far will the decay go into the tree? i have seen this before but usually the decay is compartmentalised and does not penetrate the xylem far. But how do you know for sure?

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Cause? Well it might have been caused by another tree falling against it. How far the decay goes? That's a piece of string question! Looks more rotten toward the top of the wound. You could take a core here and check it out (probably the cheapest method) or you could use decay detection such as a microdrill or picus.

 

Hope that helps.

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

I would probably start with a nylon faced mallet. Do you know how to use one?

[simonm]

No other trees near it, and its on a raised banking so i cant see how it can be mechanical.

 

No never used 1 before

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Maybe no trees near it now because they have fallen! Looks like an old wound. Get someone who knows what they are doing to assess it. You could ask to be present and thereby learn from their methods.

[Rushes]

Looks like a park so maybe a fire? It looks as though it has been healing so <if> it is found fit I would spray off the sward around the trunk and give it more of a chance to survive. I don't like the look of the moss, healthy trees tend not to do this.

[Treemover]

I'd consider lightening? Are there marks up the tree?

 

Does look a bit wide for lightening?

[daltontrees]

Lightning for sure.

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Lightning for sure.

 

Interesting. What have I missed in the picture that has enabled you to give such a definitive answer?

I am always interested in learning from those with greater experience of these things.

[daltontrees]

Interesting. What have I missed in the picture that has enabled you to give such a definitive answer?

I am always interested in learning from those with greater experience of these things.

Well, 'for sure' is a bit strong since I haven't seen the tree or the situation. The tree has lost a lot of bark, due almost certainly to a trauma rather than a canker. I thought like you that something like another tree raking down the stem could have been a cause, but apparently not. Too high for vandalism or deer. No charring or pitting like with fire damage.

 

But the picture also shows tha the vertical defect continues above the bare wood in the form of a fine rib. So then I thought that the whole thing could be a vertical crack in the wood of such seriousness that not only did it split the bark over a great length of stem but the ongoing motion in the crack has prevented occlusion of the bark split. But I see no evidence of a vertical crack in the wood or any decay pattern that would indicate this. I have also not seen bark ever recede from a split in this manner.

 

So I was back to thinking it was a rapid loss of bark with upward linear continuation (now occluded) and dissipation at the base. If it wasn't saying 'lightning' before, it was now. Lightning can blow large plates of healthy bark clean off a tree in a fraction of a second, especially in the stem. I expect this is because the heat vapourises water-based liquids in the phloem zone where there is no woody structure to prevent the rapid (instantaneous) expansion of steam.

 

So I am pretty sure it's lightning because that's what I have seen lightning do and becasue I can't imagine any other cause. I'm not putting these ideas together retrospectively for you (honest!), this is the way I reasoned it last night.

 

 

But I haven't seen the tree so I could be completely wrong. Truth is stranger than fiction, and there could have beensome bizzare incident that explains the damage. So, for almost sure.