Poplars- rot or not?

[Gary1970]

Hi, first post from Oz!

Outside an establishment blocks from my house there are these poplars which were supposedly planted around the same time (~40yrs) as much larger ones in my backyard (I presume the windbreak spacing has kept them in check sizewise).

The guy cutting them down pointed out the discoloured heartwood and explained that they were rotten.
Is that apparent from this photo?

If that were true and I cut a lower branch off my larger ones and it had this same discolouration, is that an indicator of rot on my larger one?

Thanks for any advice in advance,
Gary

 

[ATH]

Doesn't look like it. Don't know Australian trees, but heartwood is often darker than sapwood. Is the dark spot softer than the others?

 

[Gary1970]

Thanks for the reply!

Nope, just the colour.

I wasn't sure with poplars (lombard- the tall euro windbreak ones?) but have seen Australian blackwood etc with a very contrasted heartwood so thought it may have been a softwood 'thing' that I was unaware of...

The one we have is MUCH bigger, I'd hate it to fall down! was just ascertaining whether it was an age related thing or more to do with them being constrained in growth for that long.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Doesn't look like it. Don't know Australian trees, but heartwood is often darker than sapwood. Is the dark spot softer than the others?

Even if it were rot, isn't it the outer layer of trunk that nourishes the tree and gives it support?

"Wood decay always ends up in the heart of living trees, not
because wood-rotting fungi prefer heartwood, but because the tree grows and adds new wood
while live sapwood compartmentalizes infected wood by active protective processes (Fig. 2i).
Th e old concept of heartrot, the decay of dead heartwood by heartwood-rotting fungi, has been
replaced by a more dynamic concept of discoloration and decay in living trees based on research
conducted over the past 40 years. Th e concept of compartmentalization of decay in trees has
been developed in which the living tree and the wood-rot pathogen play an active part."
https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs97.pdf

However, just found some articles about false heartwood and wetwood in poplars.
Not a good thing.

https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/misc/pnwtr112.pdf

 

[Jason Douglas]

I would want to see better pics of the wood in cross section. From here it looks irregular with possible zone lines. Furthermore, does poplar form heartwood?