Bleeding Trees
Bleeding Trees: Microbial suspect named in beech deaths European Beech: Fagus sylvatica Genus:Fagus The puzzling deaths of beech trees in northeastern United States may be caused by the genus phytophthora. ... For over thirty years European beech trees, which is native to Europe have been threatened, due to a fungus that attacks the roots of susceptible plants, in many cases killing the plant. European beeches grow into tall rounded beautiful trees from Virginia to Massachusetts and as far west as Ohio. ... Many different species of plants are affected by phytophthora root rot, such as grass trees, white waratah and Christmas bells. ... The bleeding may be located anywhere on the trunk, but it is often associated with bark crevices or branch crotches. ... The bleeding areas of bark will die, and a canker will 9-8044 Pg. ... These bleeding cankers should not be confused with wet wood. Wetwood also results in the bleeding of foul-smelling liquid from open wounds on many deciduous trees. However, wet wood is a result of colonization of the wood by bacterial organisms, whereas bleeding cankers are primarily a problem of the bark and cambium. There is no clear explanation of how and why bleeding cankers occur. Certain fungal pathogens can cause a bleeding or weeping canker.