TreeCo said:
I may not be right.
It may be the deformities are caused by a canker disease.
Good call, Barber; those are burls, cause unknown. It is rampant callusing; whether caused by insect or disease or humans or genetics--likely some combination.
Where in Clearwater is it? I'd like to check it next time down.
• Abnormal swelling of plant tissues--“galls” —in leaves and twigs are seldom a health concern, and never a structural concern. Galls or "burls" in stems can be inspected for hollow sounds, holes, weeping, and “frass”—material produced by insects. If they are free of these aggravating factors, the growths may be a structural benefit.
• Sour-smelling fluid oozing from a stem may attract insects and cause concern among tree owners, but it rarely indicates a safety issue. This slime flux may need treatment for the long-term health of the tree, but not because of immediate risk concerns. The bacteria that cause the sap to ferment and ooze down the trunk also inhibit the growth of decay fungi, so the ooze is not bad news for the structure of the tree. Bacterial infection is not a structural defect.
• Trees respond to wounds by forming callus or “scar” tissue around them. Callus is undifferentiated, like human stem cells. In time this tissue can become differentiated, or specialized, as it develops into woundwood. As the hardening substance called lignin is deposited, the lignified woundwood can be much stronger than normal wood. Therefore, even while decay is spreading on the inside of a tree, the development of woundwood can compensate for some of that loss of strength.
