Tree Weeping White Fluid

[mlanders]

My previous post was Tree Weeping Water but have now discovered another tree about 50 feet due west of water tree that is weeping a milky white fluid from a small hole and seam extending downward on the trunk. What looks like brown ants are clustered around the fluid. I am ready to contact an arborist for removal of the first tree but wanted input about the second tree. Any ideas what this could be?

 

[BonsaiJedi]

without seeing a photo...my guess is a condition called "bacterial wetwood". It is caused by a bacteria known as Erwinia nimipressurali. Other than the aesthetics of the white streaking it is considered benign. In fact, the bacteria raises the internal pressure of the tree which can make it more resistant to other pathogens. Do some google image searches for "wetwood" and see if any of the photos look like your condition. If not, post some photos so we can take a crack at it.

 

[mlanders]

Thanks for the information. I did do an image search on "wetwood" and that is exactly what I am seeing with both trees. Everything I read on the web about slime flux indicates the strength (whether or not it will topple over or break during high winds) of the tree is only slightly diminished. Is that correct?

 

[BonsaiJedi]

right...like I said earlier the presence of wetwood can actually keep out other organisms, including decay fungi. Wetwood won't make the tree any less "wind-resistant" and can help prevent decay from getting into the wounds that you see. Do keep an eye on the ants, however. Wetwood may keep out little fungi spores but the pressure isn't quite enough to keep out carpenter ants!

 

[spongygumz]

wetwood

Is it an elm tree? Possibly slime flux.

 

[BonsaiJedi]

wetwood and slime fux are two names for the same thing.

 

[Dixie1]

there can be two different types of wetwood/slimflux infections. You can have a heartwood infection that is most common in elms, cottonwood, poplars, ash. this infection rarely kills the trees. the other is a bark/cambial infection affecting oaks, willows and others too. this infection CAN kill the tree within two years. nothing is to be done with the heartwood infection. you need to prune out the infected branches, if possible, if you have the cambium infection. we had the cambium infection in a row of scarlet oaks this past summer. Seven trees out of 10 are now gone. Here are some pics

 

[rebelman]

Great pics of ugly stuff Dixie.

 

[Dixie1]

what was weird was i could hear the hissing sound the white foamy stuff made when it was leaking. it also smelled like old beer. it is a pretty gross occurance, fermenting bacteria.

here are some other pics I had forgotten I took. these are after we cut them down. in the first pic you can see the damage in the cambium layer. the second one shows the damage too.

 

[treeseer]

Thanks for posting those Dixie. I've seen BOB (Bacterial Oozing Blues) disease on willow oak branches when the tree was root-damaged, and it is common on white oak trunks here. I wonder if there is any of that in MacArthur Park in Little Rock--I'll look for it when I'm there March 22. Here's an article I wrote for TCI mag on this a few years ago:

 

[Dixie1]

great article! i will be there too. I am only going to the AUFC on the 27th.

 

[treeseer]

great article! i will be there too. I am only going to the AUFC on the 27th.

You oughta try the pre-conference workshop on saturday. It'll be a hoot!

It's too early for the foam to be bubbling, but there'll be all kinds of other stuff--construction conflicts, risk management, root pruning, etc. Very useful experienc efor an urban forester!