I have a Maple tree that is has some type of disease on the trunk.
The bark is coming off and there are small white things growing on
it. Has anybody seen this and know how to treat it?
Here is a pictu http://www.esysdev.com/Maple.gif

Thanks in advance...

Just a guess, Dan, but it looks to me like the white things are some sort of
shelf fungus. They are basically harmless in and of themselves--they are
taking advantage of the condition of the tree, but are not the cause of it.

Some more information would be helpful--where do you live (what's the
climate like)? Has the tree suffered environmental stress--severe drought,
for example? Has the soil recently been regraded, possibly causing damage
to the roots? How does the rest of the tree look--is the foliage normal, or
does it seem to be suffering as well? And so on.

I've got to say, it doesn't look good....how long has the bark looked like
this?

Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"Dan Dietrich" wrote in message
...
I have a Maple tree that is has some type of disease on the trunk.
The bark is coming off and there are small white things growing on
it. Has anybody seen this and know how to treat it?
Here is a pictu http://www.esysdev.com/Maple.gif

Thanks in advance...

The tree is about a 5 to 6 inch maple located in northeastern Illinois
(Chicago Suburbs).
Last summer the bark problem started. It was a hot dry summer. This summer
has
been cooler than normal and much more rain than normal - our lawns are still
green!
This spring the leaves had some spots on them. I researched it a bit and
decided it
was probably wind scorch. I saw similar spots on several other trees in the
neighborhood.
There were some very strong winds (60 mph) in the spring.
The area in question faces west and gets the hottest afternoon sun.
The foliage is mostly normal, maybe a little thinner than normal.

Your tree is basically decaying on that part of the trunk. There isnt much you
can do, but your tree will be alright. This only affects the structural
strength of the tree and ha snothing to do with the trees actual health. If
the tree is large and could cause damamge if it fell, you may want to have it
removed.

Toad

On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 12:59:57 GMT, "Dan Dietrich"
wrote:

I have a Maple tree that is has some type of disease on the trunk.
The bark is coming off and there are small white things growing on
it. Has anybody seen this and know how to treat it?
Here is a pictu http://www.esysdev.com/Maple.gif

What type of maple is it and where do you live? Sugar maple borer has
been a problem in New England and could be the source of the problem.

The shelf fungus shown in your picture is not likely to be the
problem, but rather just taking advantage of the situation.

John

Dan Dietrich wrote:

I have a Maple tree that is has some type of disease on the trunk.
The bark is coming off and there are small white things growing on
it. Has anybody seen this and know how to treat it?
Here is a pictu http://www.esysdev.com/Maple.gif

Thanks in advance...

Ohhh, yuckers! This looks like either sun-scald or freezing
damage, or maybe a combo of the two. The white stuff is
shelf-mushrooms . . . they aren't the cause, but a symptom; you
can remove them with your fingers. Your tree can survive this;
what'd I'd recommend is shielding the trunk from sun and freezing
for a couple of years. You can make a sunshade out of a cylinder
of chickenwire and shade cloth, set about 6" from the trunk. The
best freezing protection I've found is flexible sheets of
close-cell foam that you can duct-tape around the trunk AFTER the
ground freezes; remove as soon as you hit spring thaw.

Chris Owens


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