Flowering Cherry Tree Disease? - Ask Extension
We noticed our flowering cherry tree has a disease (?) at the base of the trunk. it has split and looks as though it is rotten as the wood crumbles e...
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Flowering Cherry Tree Disease? #293611
Asked December 14, 2015, 10:09 AM EST
We noticed our flowering cherry tree has a disease (?) at the base of the trunk. it has split and looks as though it is rotten as the wood crumbles easily. Also looks like some sort of white fungus (?) inside. The really odd thing is when we investigated further there were peanuts, (yes they look like peanuts - see pic) inside the large crack/trench going up the tree trunk. I can't find anything similar online. Any ideas what this may be and how to heal the tree. We are concerned about is dying, though other than this the tree appears healthy.
Carroll County Maryland
Expert Response
How old is this cherry and what is the trunk diameter?
This split looks to be more than a few years old.
I'd say the tree is 8-10 years old, but we don't think this is fairly old. We didn't notice it in the spring when we weeded and mulched, but now noticed it over this past weekend. what I didn't send and is now attached is the picture of what looks like peanuts which about 10 of these were inside the crack. We did open up the bark more because it was cracking to see what was going on and that's when we found what looks like peanuts. Oddest thing I've seen!
At this point the cavity looks relatively large compared to the trunk diameter. Other than removing any dead bark, there is not too much more you can do. Don't wrap the wound or fill the cavity.
The nuts may be a function of some little critter that brought them into be stored ---mouse maybe or bird?
At this point, you just need to set tight and see if the tree will compartmentalize the wound. Please see http://essmextension.tamu.edu/treecarekit/index.php/after-the-storm/tree-damage-and-hazard-assessment/tree-wounds/
This tree may have always had this defect internally and just recently it split open. It is difficult to be sure what happened, possibly these splits were produced by last winters weather.
The nuts may be a function of some little critter that brought them into be stored ---mouse maybe or bird?
At this point, you just need to set tight and see if the tree will compartmentalize the wound. Please see http://essmextension.tamu.edu/treecarekit/index.php/after-the-storm/tree-damage-and-hazard-assessment/tree-wounds/
This tree may have always had this defect internally and just recently it split open. It is difficult to be sure what happened, possibly these splits were produced by last winters weather.
