American Elm in Salem, OR

bstewert

TreeHouser
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
1,500
Location
Portland, OR
Today I visited the state capitol in Salem. Right by the capitol building was this beautiful old elm, with a nasty bite. What do suppose it is?


elm1.jpg

elm2.jpg

elm3.jpg
 
Beautiful tree, I looked through the UC Davis extension site and couldn't find much that matched your photos. My guess would be some type of canker disease; I'll flip through Sinclair resource when I get back to my house and see if I can get a better answer.

jp:D
 
Canker being dead tissue, correct?

It looks like a gall which has turned into a large burl to me. This may be caused by many biotic or abiotic agents. The tissue is still alive. Stig would probably kick someones eyeball out for that if the tree were ever to be removed. Valuable for turners, gunstocks and other woodworking uses.

Nothing to worry about, looks funky but structurally sound, perhaps even to the point of creating greater integrity.
 
Right you are.
My first thought was:" I'd love to get that on the lathe"!
 
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