Root growing on side of tree

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ande9974

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Jan 3, 2022
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east Kansas
Hi, new to forum. I am in east Kansas and have a tree in my yard with a strange condition. There is an area near the ground where the bark is gone and there is what appears to be a root growing up the side and burrowing under the healthy bark. Other than that the tree was healthy this year. Several years ago there was a problem with bore holes from some pest but they appear to be gone leaving only the holes.A76411B3-CD3D-43FC-A26A-990821B3712D.jpeg
 
to expand just a little on what @Raintree said:
The tissue where that started growing is undifferentiated tissue...meaning it "doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up" - it responds to its environment and grows accordingly. It was "supposed" to be bark and wood tissue. However, something killed the adjacent cambium (not sure what from that pic...) and the cells right along the edge, still hidden under the bark that hadn't sloughed off yet said "It is dark and moist here. There isn't more cambium tissue to my right, so it seems kinda like we are underground... That's it - we must be underground, so that means we are supposed to be roots!"

(OK, not perfect, but the point is, they grew that way because of the environment they were in. I'd also leave them alone.)
 

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