Rodrigo held up a copy of Fungal Strategies
of Wood Decay in Trees. “Here’s the answer,
amigo—it looks like this picture of Ustulina
deusta,” he said, quoting a passage from the
book, “’With this kind of
decay, acoustic velocity is
not reduced, even at the late
stage of decay.’” He put the
book back into our crate of
references. “The other stems
and the root collar appear
sound, but the root zone is
limited by terrain and many
competing shrubs and trees
around it. Now that we have
collected more information,
we can form new theories.”
“Exactly!” I said, clapping
him on the shoulder. “When
your working hypothesis does
not make sense, return to
your senses. Preclude premature
preconceptions as
you systematically assess the
evidence. If you had used
your hand lens on those
blotches, you would have
seen perithecia, openings like pores,
not looking like tar at all. The epistemological
order is sensation to perception
to conception, also known as
data to analysis to conclusion. We must fit
our theories to the facts, not vice versa.”
“As for nomenclature, this disease has
been reclassified from the genus Hypoxylon
to Ustulina to Kretzschmaria. In the field, we
will stick to the more general term ‘hypoxylon,’
with a small ‘h’. As for sealants, some
formulations have improved on tar, but they
are still experimental. So what management
options would you consider if this multistemmed
specimen was yours?”
“In a healthy tree, the pathogen is usually
compartmentalized and invasion or spread
is stalled,” Codit said, remembering his Modern
Arboriculture. “The big question is, will the
infection break the interior barriers and infect
the other stems? For now, I would lightly
reduce the sprawling ends, cable these two
stems on either side of the infected stem,
and check once a year to see if the hypoxylon
is spreading.
“We have time to see how the tree responds
to root invigoration,” Rodrigo added. “This
prescription for soil improvement and mulching
might increase the tree’s health and
resistance to disease. Research shows that
chipped hawthorn wood may have some
fungicidal value, so we will apply it.”
Our client had been listening as she
approached the arborists from behind. ”That
all sounds good to me, gentlemen,” she
WHAT’S THE
DIAGNOSIS?
agreed. “Please proceed, and leave me the
bill when you are done. Where are you off
to, Dendro?” she sadly asked, seeing me
turn to leave.
“I’m pursuing a long-standing investigation,”
I answered with a nod, pulling my
hat brim over my brow. “Drop me a line if
anything arboricultural goes awry.”
Detective Dendro fights for Truth,
Justice, and the Arboricultural Way.
References
Corner, E.J.H. 1949. the durian theory, or
the origin of the modern tree. Annals of
Botany 13:367–414.
Schwarze, F.W.M.R., J. Engels, and C.
Mattheck. 2000. Fungal Strategies of
Wood Decay in Trees. Springer, Berlin,
Germany.
Shigo, A.L. 1991. Modern Arboriculture.
Shigo and Trees, Associates, Durham,
NH. 423 pp.
Tee, S.P., and M.L. Wee. 2001. Trees of Our
Garden City: A Guide to the Common
Trees of Singapore. Nature’s Niche,
Singapore.