The Forestry Forum

 
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I was thinking that we could include pictures of the bugs, larvae, adults, damage or even written descriptions.  Weeds, vectors of diseases, invasive species, and diseases would also be fair game.  For those of you who participated in the "Tree of the Day", this might be interesting.

The picture above is of damage caused by an insect.

The dreaded banding caterpillar, looks like they dropped right off  :o

No guess on this one but I am in for the thread idea!  

 :P
Always interested in learning!

The twigs rubber banded together were cut off by a twig girdler.  The bug looks a lot like some of the other wood borer beetles.  The adult beetles lay eggs on the twigs, girdle them off and the larvae begins its life cycle in the soil.

Twig Girdler | NC State Extension Publications (ncsu.edu) (https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/twig-girdler-1) 
Twig Girdler Damage on Young Trees | UGA Pecan Extension (https://site.extension.uga.edu/pecan/2019/12/twig-girdler-damage-on-young-trees/) 

Today's forest pest/disorder eventually will turn into a moth.  This is the larval form below.  The eyes on the caterpillar are one of the most distinguishing features.

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Bonus for identifying the leaf, which is a hint to what the caterpillar is.  The leaf is alternate, simple, entire, revolute and thick compared to most of the same genus.

If that's oleander...

It's not oleander leaf or caterpillar.  Ironically, last night when we went in for supper, I noticed I had a small oleander caterpillar crawling on my left wrist.  My almost 4yo grandson was with me in the kitchen and I was explaining to him that the orange and black oleander caterpillar was adapted to be able to eat poisonous leaves of the oleander plant.  My grill was nearby an oleander bush.

I was guessing oleander hawk moth when you said it had "eyes". I think all the imperial moths have horns or spikes  ???.  I'm just looking around at pictures and see a great Swallowtail has distinctive eyes and dines on citrus?

The caterpillar above is call the variable oak leaf caterpillar.  They prefer white oaks.  This is the only one I've ever seen, but it was on a live oak leaf.  I'll try to get a something together for today, but the next few days I may be away from the computer.

These are gonna be tough, for most of us bugs is bugs and bugs is bad  :D

I found one on an old stick yesterday. It's on red oak, which is where I've seen them. The damage looks like a shotgun blast.


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PPB?

This one was an oak timberworm.

Often I can cover the "shotgun blast" of damage on a board with my hand, imagine a small horde of worms travelling across the tree... and back  :D

The U turn they mention in all the articles below is a giveaway when you see the damage. Look at the range of hole sizes in the shotgun blast in the photos. Tiny larvae heading out and mature larger ones on the return leg of the journey.

Oak Timberworm, Not Your Average Weevil | (govdelivery.com) (https://forestrynews.blogs.govdelivery.com/2021/08/10/oak-timberworm-not-your-average-weevil/)

Oak/Oak Timberworm - Bugwoodwiki (https://wiki.bugwood.org/Archive:Oak/Oak_Timberworm)

Arrenodes minutus - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrenodes_minutus)

We felled and started chainsaw milling a large beam out of a scarlet oak several years ago when I saw the damage. As we continued rolling and sawing I finall rejected the timber and made a couple of posts. Knowing those bugs were cutting a dotted line clear across my beam and back was no cause for comfort!

That oak post above had been sawn a year prior and was at that point down in the garage on the job being notched when that bug was trying to lay eggs in my fine timber.
You can tell this is a female, she has that long probiscis with a pair of pinchers on the end for excavating an egg hole with, that's what she is doing prior to spinning around and dumping a load of eggs. A male has those pinchers mounted right to his face, there is no long snout.

After notching, all the timbers went for a borate bath and a day or two of redry prior to final fitup. That particular area is known for borer problems in their oak, lots of firewood.

 
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This one should be familiar to a lot of folks.  I have never seen it in my neck of the woods, probably due to the lack of the alternate host.  I think I took this picture north of Eufaula, Alabama at Jmoore's in-law's place.

CAR

No apple or hawthorn in your neck of the woods?

The last one is cedar-apple rust.  


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This is what the woody rust gall looks like on a cedar after the orange fungus dries out.  

 
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The tree below died.(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/A21F42C1-1E8F-496E-93CE-A139291E57A7.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1671280936)
 
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The damage and larvae are pictured.  Sometimes these kill the trees and sometimes they just cause damage.  The heavily infested longleaf pine above did die.  There are imported, red headed, black headed and several other varieties.  They can be found every year, but they seem to be much more pervasive on a seven-year cycle.  I am familiar with the ones that feed on southern yellow pines, but I assume there are varieties in many other areas feeding on many other species of pines. 
What do we have here?

I sat on my hands till lunch :D  Pine Sawfly?

They are a lot harder for me to identify by the mature insect (fly).  Pine sawflies lay their eggs on the pine needles.  When I first saw them (eggs), I thought they were some kind of scale insect.
stelprdb5347774.pdf (usda.gov) (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5347774.pdf) 

 
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These are pictures of a sample that was on the disorders section of the Florida state forestry contest last week.  Notice that the two seedling pines are dead (probably slash pines).  The bug is one of a group that has a name given to any of this group (example:  there are many different types of wood borers, grubs and beetles, but they all can be referred to as wood borers).

deodar weevil?

Out west we have lerp psyllids attacking the eucalyptus trees. Typically found on dry stressed trees. Pronounced lurp sillids.
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QuoteThese are pictures of a sample that was on the disorders section of the Florida state forestry contest last week.  Notice that the two seedling pines are dead (probably slash pines).  The bug is one of a group that has a name given to any of this group

Pine bark beetles... ips, spb, btb?

Texas Ranger was right 8).  

Deodar weevils are one of the reproduction weevils.  Pales weevil is another.  They can kill over 90% of newly planted pines in heavy infestations.  Weevils have the "proboscis, elephant trunk appearing head" unlike the bark beetles.  They are about the size of a black turpentine beetle or maybe a little bigger.
ENTO-386 (vt.edu) (https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/2902/2902-1102/ENTO-386.pdf)  To minimize the risk of reproduction weevil attack, remove slash and cut stumps or wait a year or so after harvest to replant.

Rob, we have Asian Citrus Psyllids here.  They have decimated the citrus industry as they are the vector for the dreaded greening disease.  Do those psyllids cause serious problems with eucalyptus or other trees?

Just the Eucs here.
  Back before I tried woodworking I tried raising lychees of several cultivars on a place I had behind Camp Pendleton in the hills. GREAT growing conditions and I had several years under my belt of raising, grafting and putting in acres of lychees that were just starting to produce. There was some kind of a soil borne condition that the University could not identify that caused the trees to all suddenly turn brown and die, wiping out my investment and years of work. To this day I have no idea what happened and I don't know anyone who could possibly tell me. Very expensive venture. The lights on the orchards literally went out; kaboom

Quote from: caveman on December 19, 2022, 06:36:14 PMWeevils have the "proboscis, elephant trunk appearing head" unlike the bark beetles. 

Cool, I was having a hard time forcing a BTB into that club foot face.

Quote from: tule peak timber on December 19, 2022, 03:53:09 PMOut west we have lerp psyllids attacking the eucalyptus trees.

I just did a little reading on the lerp psyllid.  It is native to Australia and seems to really like red gum trees.  The lerp is the little white conelike things on the leaves.  They are where the psyllids develop into adults.  There is another bug, similar to a parasitic wasp that has been introduced to California as a biologic control.  It is reported to be most effective along the coastal regions and not so effective in the hot dry interior regions of California.

 
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the first pine log had "bugs".  lots of tunnel and fras.  many still had moisture and were soft, making me think they were still viable.  they have all been used in the woodstove now.  I had sterilized 4 of the boards, for use in the pine paddle charcuterie boards, but tossed them in the fire as well.  each pass of the planer revealed more greenish smears of a borer.

 
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here is the last log.  this is the tree from the neighbor.


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2 days of fans in the shop.  started at 28% MC.  after down to 14% it went into the heater at 160 overnight.  no bugs in this log.

I'm going to guess again because Kyle is nice enough to explain both the answer and my guess  :D.

It is hard to tell if that borer has been through the planer or not but they are first broken into 2 classes, flat headed borers, (metallic beetles) and round headed borers(longhorn beetles). The holes are rectangularish and roundish respectively.

From that broad flat head I think you have one of the shiny metallic beetles and if you look at a section of the galleries they should be more rectangular.

Looking at those fatwood edges in the drying cabinet. We set/sterilized a load of somewhat resinous white pine not long ago. It was miserable through the planer and then cleaning up the planer, I would have gladly paid for another day's energy. It takes a while to dry out and set heavier pitch.

I have a chunk of fat lighter wood on the radial arm and slice off a sliver to help fire the stove down there. Clean to the right side of that stove, mine gets that way, your cubbyhole is still summer stocked  :).

What species is the pine?

I'll noodle lightered wood with a chainsaw and keep that in a coffee can on the Gator for starting fires.  I don't like cleaning the planer after running heart pine through it but the last couple of times, I made a slurry out of mineral spirits and paste wax (Minwax) and it did a good job of removing the sap off of the bed and feed rollers.


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In the pictures above are longleaf pines.  The first is of one in the grass stage.   They stay in the grass stage for 5-7 years, growing a taproot, then enter the rocket stage.  You may notice a little yellow and brown area at about the halfway point of some of the needles.  This is the most serious disease of longleaf pine while it is in the grass stage.  The most effective way to treat it in the forest, is to burn it.  In nurseries, it is sprayed with a fungicide.  The last picture is what happens to beautiful longleaf pine stands when the biologist, forester, or ranger burns too hot of a fire.  I suspect a lot of you will be familiar with this one.  

I have another that I took a pic of that I have no idea what weaved the needles.  BELOW

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The disorder above on the longleaf pines (not severe cases) is brown spot needle blight.  

 
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I apologize for not having a whole tree picture, but this is what I have.  This insect usually attacks young pines.  I see it most often on slash pines.  It can cause misshapen terminal buds but seldom kills the trees.  The larva is in the bottom picture.  It lives in the house of frass seen in the top picture.  I most often see these on the terminal shoots of pine trees less than waist high.

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It is kind of difficult to see the frass house on this small slash pine, but it is there, about eight inches down from the top.

Quote from: caveman on December 12, 2022, 05:37:54 AM
Today's forest pest/disorder eventually will turn into a moth.  This is the larval form below.  The eyes on the caterpillar are one of the most distinguishing features.

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Bonus for identifying the leaf, which is a hint to what the caterpillar is.  The leaf is alternate, simple, entire, revolute and thick compared to most of the same genus.

Looks like a live oak leaf

Rob, the picture of the oak leaf, caterpillar and the cup was to show the Variable Oak Leaf Caterpillar with some clues of species and size. 

Sorry about the poor picture.  It is of small slash pine with the ______ ____________'s nest in the upper half of it.  The nest looks like the one in the first picture above.  I did not really have time to look for better examples of this insect/damage while we were out there.  We cut down a few standing dead pines at a neighbor's place about a half a mile away and had to hustle home to meet a customer.

The most recent disorder was the pine webworm.  

Today's will be a weed, known to be one of the 10 worst in the world.  It is said to have entered a port in Louisianna sometime in the 1800's in a crate and was used for packing.  This weed spreads like crazy due to the airborne seeds.  County mowing crews do a phenomenal job of spreading it due to not cleaning their machines properly.  It will also spread through the rhizomes.  When it infests pine stands and it catches fire, it often burns hot enough to kill the trees in the stand.  Cattle will eat the new growth, but it does not provide much nourishment otherwise.  The edges of the leaf blades are sharp.

What is it?

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For both of you who are sitting on the edges of your seats waiting for the name of the weed featured recently, it is Cogan Grass.  Cogon Grass / Invasive Non-Native Plants / Forest Health / Our Forests / Forest & Wildfire / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov) (https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/Forest-Health/Invasive-Non-Native-Plants/Cogon-Grass)  

When John and I were sawing some SYP logs earlier in the week, I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of some beetles that generally attack weak, dying or stressed pines or are often found in fresh cut logs.  When these beetles attack the trees, they usually enter the trees at the mid-level of the tree.  The Black Turpentine beetles usually enter the bottom six feet of the tree, while the dreaded Southern Pine beetle usually enters between the bark fissures closer to the top of the tree where the bark is not as thick.

  The beetle featured today actually has at least three different species, but they all leave Y and H shaped galleries that are vertical in arrangement, have medium sized pitch tubes, roughly the size of a nickel and have a jagged rear (looks like it was carved out by a spork- the spoon/fork combination utensil).  The pitch tubes are formed by the sap the tree produces in the hole created by the beetle.  The pitch is the tree's defense, attempting to expel the invading insects. I have noticed a bit of white fungus also associated with this beetle's infestation as well as blue stain fungi, which is usually associated with Ambrosia beetles.

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I evidently do not have any pictures of this beetle's pitch tubes on standing pines.  Regardless, they, like other bark beetles, kill the trees by girdling the trees while feeding on the phloem/cambium which is between the bark and the outer xylem (sapwood). The phloem is what transports sugars manufactured in the leaves down to the rest of the tree.

Who would like to identify today's forest insect?

Is it related to Doc's laser hobby?

It could be related to Doc's hobby.  

The beetles pictured above are Ips Engraver Beetles.  Today, let's go with something environmentally caused.  What is it?


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Loblolly pine that was healthier a day before. 
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very en-lightening!?

Massed pitch is a sign of some kind of injury.
Did you lose the fence controller?

Dems is electric logs!

Shazam! Have you seen this where the ground is blown out above the roots?  Most often on hardwoods due to rooting structure.

even the Spanish moss appears to be a bit fuzzier. :o   :snowball:

Finally, this thread has been energized.  The loblolly pictured above is still alive.  Had the lightning girdled the tree it would have died.  John and I had taken shelter in the shop a few years ago as a storm rolled in.  In that storm we watched as a cedar tree about 150 feet away from the open shop was struck by a bolt of lightning.  It did not survive but was blasted apart and split in three different directions.  

Quite often after a lightning strike, some of the other disorders get into the weakened tree and finish it off.  On one group of pines which used to stand where our sawmill shed is now, I found black turpentine beetles, pine sawflies and ambrosia beetles following a lightning strike.  They all (five or six) died within a few months of the strike.

 
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Today's featured disorder is often found on slash and loblolly pines.  It is a fungal disease that, in addition to pines, it must have oaks to complete its life cycle.  I rarely see it in my neck of the woods but north of here in Florida and Georgia, there seems to be a higher incidence of it.  There are genetically resistant strains of trees which can be purchased from the Florida Forest Service as well as other sources.
What is the pictured disorder?

Pine Gall Rust?

This has some similarities to Western and Eastern Gall Rusts, but it is a little different.  There is a lot more taper on the canker of the one pictured than the abrupt "ball shaped" gall on the other gall rusts.

The one pictured is considered the most serious stem disorder to slash and loblolly pines.

Fusarium Rust

I always called it fusiform rust.

We had a particular problem with it in plantations.

Fusiform Rust
AFC - Fusiform Rust (alabama.gov) (https://forestry.alabama.gov/Pages/Informational/Diseases/Fusiform_Rust.aspx)

On chestnuts and scarlet oak, which are hosts of chestnut blight I've looked for orange spores having been shown at some point that this was chestnut blight. Now I'm wondering which it is, scroll down to hosts here;

Fusiform Rust - Forest Nursery Pests (forestpests.org) (https://www.forestpests.org/nursery/fusariumrust.html#:~:text=Fusiform%20rust%2C%20caused%20by%20the%20fungus%20Cronartium%20quercuum,species%20of%20pines%20are%20susceptible%20to%20the%20disease.)

The source you cited lists a lot more alternate hosts besides the water, willow and laurel oaks mentioned.  I found a report done by Dr. Ed Barnard, forest pathologist that says oaks in the red and black oak groups are alternate hosts but that the three mentioned above are the most common hosts. 

As a sidenote, Dr. Barnard used to come to Florida's annual FFA Forestry camp, before he retired, to do a presentation on bugs and rot one evening during the hot, July camp week.  He was incredibly knowledgeable but unlike a lot of really smart folks, he could break down the information about bugs and rot in a way the kids and I could understand while keeping it interesting.  Below is another site that may be of use when looking at forestry disorders.
 Forest Health Publications / Forest Health / Our Forests / Forest & Wildfire / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov) (https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/Forest-Health/Forest-Health-Publications)

On the lightning strike.

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TR
Understanding that is a painting. Good job of that. 

I'm going fishing in the morning, so I'll get a head start on tomorrow's disorder.  This one is a plant which is easy to spot this time of the year.  I guess I should have posted this one a week ago.

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Good old Mistletoe.  I'll have to get a picture of it but I think there is a variety that will live in my Incense Cedars.  At first I thought it was some sort of messed up branches.

Yes.  This is the mistletoe we have around here.  It is all green with opposite leaves.  It is a parasitic plant that is commonly found in water and laurel oak trees among others.
Mistletoe - UF/IFAS Extension (ufl.edu) (https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn-and-garden/mistletoe/)

In my experience deer love to eat it. Early in my career, on a largely turkey oak/longleaf pine forest, heavy winds often brought down clumps of mistletoe. These clumps would not last the day.

 
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Today's may be a little more challenging.

Root rot mushroom?

Bar patrons on star wars?

Last month, at the Florida FFA Forestry Contest, that sample was on the disorder section of the event.  The forester running that section of the event said it was a conk/fungus that is one of the ones that is responsible for causing Butt-Rot of Hardwoods.  It was identified as Ganoderma lucidium, if I recall correctly.  A couple of hardwood leaves or roots or some other clues suggesting a hardwood would have been helpful, but this is what was provided.  
fsbdev2_043649.pdf (usda.gov) (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev2_043649.pdf)

 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/A1D778EB-F8D3-4A0C-BA89-1766D0239DF0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1672493018)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/CC941751-4316-46EB-A5DE-9F679A01F8A5.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1672257034)
 
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_1420.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1397850695)
 
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_1310.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1391299176)
This insect infests stressed, dying or dead trees or fresh cut logs.  You will notice that some of these pictured are in pines and others are in oaks, red and white.  The pictures featuring the well-manicured fingernails are on live oak.  It has a unique grain pattern but is classified as a white oak.
What is this insect?

Ambrosia beetle.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.  The ambrosia beetles feed on the blue stain fungi that they inoculate the host wood/tree with and then the beetles feed on the fungi.  The fungi feed on the sugars in the wood.  The ambrosia beetles leave a lot of clues:  Blue Stain fungi, small holes with dark halos, sawdust at the base of the tree, small, straw-like projections from the bark or ends of logs, and the beetles themselves are unique.
 https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5349704.pdf  (https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5349704.pdf)

For those of us who saw logs into boards, we generally do not like bugs in our wood.  The ambrosia beetles leave the wood when the moisture content drops below about 20%.  There are several species of ambrosia beetles.  One of the imported/invasive varieties, is the Red Bay Ambrosia Beetle.  It has caused a lot of issues with Red Bay trees as it is the vector for a disease called Laurel Wilt.  This disease plugs up the trees' xylem, which is responsible for transferring nutrients from the roots to the rest of the tree.  This beetle/disease is also an important economic problem for Florida's avacado growers as it also affects those trees.  

If someone else wants to provide a forest disorder, feel free.  I'm kind of limited to what we have in my area and things I've thought to take pictures of.  Invasive trees and weeds may be on the horizon.

I'll have limited availability for the next several days due to attending an ag teacher conference and hosting two in-service continuing education sessions.  I'll try to find something to post while at the FFA Leadership Training Center, otherwise, I'll get something next week.  This would be a great opportunity for others to post some pictures of Kudzu, Gypsy Moth (sponge somethingoranother), Hemlock Wooly Adelgid or some other disorders/diseases that are pervasive other places.   

I think I have a couple in the gallery.

This can be the next one, bonus for wood ID
The log home dated to 1847, the ring count had us back about a century before the Revolution.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/termitelog.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1192055741)



These are ambrosia beetles hitting freshly sawn poplar... which to be honest looks a little past its "best by" date.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/beetlebutts.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1482972324)
 

I think this was the next morning getting ready for an early dip, in the borate trough. Part of id can be close examination of the frass.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/beetlevolcano.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1482972688)
 

I think there is one of some ambrosia maple I used in a writer's studio.
Here it is;

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/softmaple.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1207187469)
 
She liked it and we were talking about how it is often created by a beetle attack on a weak tree and often on a maple they are "taps", the tree is sweating sap. She began to describe a tree in the neighborhood that I knew immediately as she began talking about "the honey tree" and smelling it as you got near. It was a huge sweating old red maple covered in fermenting black funk that I was kind of hoping would have to come down while I was there, you know that was some good stuff  :D.

The top pic there is termites in a white oak log. The "tell" that it is a white oak is the size of those rays. The tell on the termites is their jaws are not strong enough to eat rays. If you see that ray pattern look below it and you'll usually find the mud tunnels back to earth. The frass is usually small to tiny pellets. It has been through the insect where the fungus farming ambrosia beetle above was simply clearing wood out of the way so it could grow shrooms in the sweet water flowing by. The dust will look different.

Hmm, who was the knight showing off the fomets in his pocket  :D

Our native subterranean termites have to go back to ground daily. From birth to death they are "on" 24/7 but they cannot survive in dry wood even a day. You could collect an entire colony, carry it up to the attic and dump it out, and they would be dead by dark. Dry wood termites in the tropics and deep south can swarm, hit the wall and enter, bad news.

I sawed out a 3 piece red oak corner at work the other day, or, it fell out when the sawzall touched it. The termites are long gone, I'm removing and replacing damage. By 10', up the hollow in the main 4x6 corner post was down to a ~1" diameter gallery where below that the lower part of the corner post pretty much turned to dust when it landed.

Rambling on, there is a little ppb damage down low in the sapwood there, starch eaters. No starch to speak of in the heartwood. Termites have the gut flora to get nourishment from cellulose. Sugar, starch and cellulose are the same building blocks assembled differently. The termite evolved to crack open the most abundant food source, most of us cannot even see food there. I had a biology professor that said whenever we figure out how to do what the termite does, starvation and energy will no longer be an issue.

Oh, the termites had mud tunnels over the black locust to get to the "soft" white oak. :D

Thank you, Don.
Great explanations.  I thought that was a white oak log, but not enough to go out on the limb and call it one.  It is interesting to me that the termites avoided the rays in the log.  Termites are formidable enemies to structures in our hot and humid climate.

I was splitting firewood today and got int this, which is common, not one thing but feel free to identify any of it, it is a series of afflictions (that I had better go read up on :D). This one has it all, pick any, including tree id.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/robinia1.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1673136113)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/robinia2.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1673136157)
 

Termites and carpenter ants and some yellow fungus along with dry rot?

I would add wood borers to the list.  I'm not confidant enough to try the wood i.d. based on the pics.

This one has a couple of chapters, there are borers, fungus, ants, no termites. If it quits pouring I'll get a fruiting body and a couple more pics at daylight to help id and flesh this out. It might help if I say the borer has yellow racing stripes  :). It is dumping... wish I had gotten all that firewood under cover  :-\

Well that was timely, got the gutters clean, dogs abluted, skid steer put up, fire in da shop and a picture or two and it just started dumping again.

Yesterday was what it looks like at the splitter, this is what I'm looking for in the woods;

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/locustconch1.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1673189508)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/locustconch2.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1673189559)

Is that Turkey Tail?

I had to look that up, Trametes, or, Polyporus versicolor. I'm pretty sure I know that one, this is much more uniform, bland colored. It is a polypore, the cracks on the top are I guess the most distinguishing feature (I didn't know that, i just have the google  :D)

I posed the question as it came to me, but, that is kind of from the back end, we were seeing the accumulation of damage from several things, which, is often the case.

It probably makes more sense to describe the train wreck in the order it happens.

The tree is a Black Locust. If it were not for this problem it would occupy the place of Teak in North America.

Late summer you'll see this guy flying around, the Locust Borer, Megacyllene Robinia (everything black locust related has robinia in it somewhere}.
Insects: Locust Borer, 4-H Forestry - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1NjyUkWwUI&t=130s)
Locust Borer (vt.edu) (https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/111327/ENTO-423.pdf)

It is a longhorned beetle, remember from previously, longhorns have round headed larvae. This particular one has red faced round headed larvae with a huge appetite and granular frass.

The borers have made entry wounds.. I think the video was showing pecker damage on larvae holes, I've seen our big pileated woodpeckers working them over, but at any rate, the borers breach the bark. They can be confused with a painted hickory borer.

If you read that above I think it said the borers prefer stressed trees. That is for a pest id next summer, the locust leaf miner. By the time the locust borer beetles emerge, the trees here are pretty much brown from leaf miners. I've noticed on sweeter soils locust does better. By midsummer when the borer larvae mature and emerge as the longhorned beetle, the leaf miners have shut down the tree's energy factory.

The spores of Phellinus Robiniae, aka Fomes rimosus, aka cracked cap polypore. I just know it as locust heart rot and those are conchs on the stem, releasing spores. The spores get into the borers tunnels and introduce heart rot. This is one of THE most decay resistant species. Except for this particular fungus that actually eats locust alive. That is the doty wood in my firewood pics. By the time you see the conchs, the tree has at least one good place of heart rot. As I look at that picture above of several conchs up the stem, that thing may be a standing culvert.

A Study of the White Heart-Rot of Locust, Caused by Trametes robiniophila (jstor.org) (https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2435615.pdf)

It is one of the white rots, also known as the soft rots. I think of these as full moisture rots often in a living tree as opposed to the brown rots that are more wet/dry cycle rots in dead wood.

In the left hand firewood chunk above you can sort of see and imagine the root tips of the fungus taking advantage of the main vertical highways of the tree but you can see where they also use the rays to travel and spread, the right side of the dark brown rot has a couple of what look to me to be rays spreading the rot. I've noticed that before and the paper talks about it a bit.

So there it is, not really one thing but a series of one thing after another. I can think of another example like this just outside my door. But its someone else's turn!  :D

Whew, that paper was dense, and a century old, it took 3 runs at it but there was a lot there. As a carpenter this caught my eye.

Quote"Advance rot" has in recent years been given considerable attention, and during the world war the price paid in human lives as a result of weak spots in aeroplane timber instigated special research along this line by the national government. Unfortunately the results of these studies are not yet available in the literature. Boyce (I920, p. i5) found in the dry rot of incense cedar, where the decayed areas alternate with apparently sound wood, that " hyphae were commonly present in the apparently sound wood surrounding young pockets to a distance of 4 mm., and sparingly to 8 mm. in a horizontal direction," while he found scattered mycelium vertically beyond the last decay pocket to a distance of 7.8 cm. Meinecke (I9I4) found the advance rot of Echinodontium tinctorum on Abies concolor to extend vertically from 2 to 6 feet beyond the typical rot. Weir and Hubert (I9I8), working with the same fungus on Tsuga heterophylic, report advance rot recognizable at from I to 5 feet. In these cases a trained observer can usually recognize the advance made by the fungus by slight irregularities in color by streaks. Munch (I9IO) working with a sap-rot, Stereum purpureum on poplar, perceived that the advancing hyphae pre- ceded the zone of browning to some extent.

Hartig (1894), speaking of cut timber, suggested long ago that mycelium might be expected in the apparently sound regions of such wood. In the lilac, Von Schrenk (I9I4) emphasizes the sharpness of the line between "sound" and completely destroyed wood, and all observers know that this is a frequent condition on gross examination. Fomes igniarius on poplar, occurring along tamarack swamps in Michigan, shows this contrast most markedly. In other heart-rots like that produced by Polyporus hispidus and Fomes fraxinophilus on ash, dried-out logs often show a rather in- distinct demarcation. But although no generalization can be attempted from the one case studied by us, it would seem that others of the heart-rots found in the hardwoods might be expected to show advance rot, and perhaps to an unsuspected linear extent. The economic importance of this point grows in proportion to the scarcity of sound trees, and the temptation to inspectors of timber to pass slightly decayed stuff is only too well known by our lumber-using manufacturers. If the weakening of the apparently sound wood surrounding a narrow core of rot in a large log of valuable timber were only half what our test figures show, it might still be of serious significance when used for certain structures.

Watched a documentary on the history channel about the beginning of the industry, Boeing, McDonald Douglass and ford.  As they moved to metal frames for higher load, speed and engines, a German plane crashed as he continued to use wooden wing parts, and the wing broke and fell off the plane.

Don P, thank you for sharing the rot report.  

I took a few pictures today at school of a tree that has a few disorders.

What do you see?  What kind of tree?


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/BEB2EA79-1ED2-406B-B485-04B6117CC5FE.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1673297544)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/37916D99-9454-4D2A-82DE-0942D0A23526.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1673297350)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/72E3E896-E05C-4B2C-8ACD-2334344DC100.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1673297353)
 
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Some sort of scale bug on Loblolly pine?  Needle don't look long enough for Long Leaf Pine.

It's hard to judge but I think you're on the right track, pine needle scale on longleaf pine?

Do they eventually go away on their own or is that tree doomed?  I figure you could douse the tree with a soapy solution to wipe them out.

Y'all are right on the scale.  The black stuff on the needles is something else.  It is not a loblolloy.  Loblollys have needles in fasicles of three.  These are twos and threes.  It is a southern yellow pine.  
I.D. the tree and I.d. the black stuff on the needles.  

The black stuff is fungus that feeds on aphid urine (honey dew).  

With that hint and some googling I'm coming up with pine aphids and sooty mold growing on their honeydew.

The tree is a slash pine, one of the four southern yellow pines.  The black stuff is sooty mold.  There seems to be at least one type of scale insect and maybe more.  I did not see aphids, but the sooty mold suggests that they have been there, or they still are.

Just a little on slash pine.  About half of the pine that John and I saw is slash pine.  It was, along with longleaf, used for naval stores production.  The needles are in fascicles of two and three.  The needles tend to grow down the branches a bit more than longleaf, the fascicles are a little shorter than longleaf.  

Today's disorder is not really forestry related, but it is unique enough to be interesting.  This insect has evolved to be able to eat from this poisonous woody ornamental landscape plant that it is pictured on.  This was taken yesterday evening outside of my shop while I was mixing up a bucket of stucco.  The leaves have mostly been eaten, except for the midrib portion, which has the highest concentration of toxin.  All parts of this plant are poisonous.  I have read that nine leaves have enough poison to kill a cow if eaten.  

What is this caterpillar?   
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/4B62A3D7-50D3-4AC7-841E-40D00E4BB51D.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1673706633)
 

Monarch butterfly caterpillar? I seem to remember that from school decades ago.

No, these caterpillars turn into polka-dot wasp moths.  

Cool looking wasp!
common name: oleander caterpillar
scientific name: Syntomeida epilais Walker (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

That is the one.
https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/oleander_caterpillar.htm#:~:text=The%20oleander%20caterpillar%2C%20Syntomeida%20epilais,caterpillar%20can%20cause%20considerable%20defoliation. (https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/oleander_caterpillar.htm#:~:text=The%20oleander%20caterpillar%2C%20Syntomeida%20epilais,caterpillar%20can%20cause%20considerable%20defoliation.)    

Quote from: caveman on December 12, 2022, 01:17:40 PM
It's not oleander leaf or caterpillar.  Ironically, last night when we went in for supper, I noticed I had a small oleander caterpillar crawling on my left wrist.  My almost 4yo grandson was with me in the kitchen and I was explaining to him that the orange and black oleander caterpillar was adapted to be able to eat poisonous leaves of the oleander plant.  My grill was nearby an oleander bush.

From page 1, I peaked early  :D

One of my wife's friends needed a flat for a dozen half pint jelly jars and I had this really rough cant/squared up post  :D. This was a hybrid we planted. I sawmilled it up on the tablesaw just to see what the wood looked like. It was more interesting wood than expected. This little tree had a rough life.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/dozHalfPints.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1673824388)
 

Care to guess what it is and what got it?

I see some blue stain, and borer sign.  also looks like some physical damage like a limb broke or was sawn off the far end of the board.  Ash?  not sure what hybrid.

It's an evergreen and I'm stuffed up.
@Wlmedley (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=58995) posted this on another thread when I posted a picture of the box.

QuoteNice looking box.Looks a little like hickory?

It's not hickory but that observation is spot on, he's seeing the same "tell".

A scan is going to be clearer than a pic, hang on I'll have to edit it in from the other computer


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/leylandop.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1673876443)


Whoops, the stick is upside down but the main damage I'm seeing is clearer. And its the same varmint as hickory. That said, there's several things to talk about here.

Frass is my friend.

The borers were secondary damage. Here's a better pic of the one still hanging on,

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/birdPeck.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1673884682)

Some straight lines of holes - looks like Red Wing Flicker damage out here.

You have to be kind of careful throwing this name around  :D

Last call while I write  :)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/leyland.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1673913030)
 

As these started attacking my little row of Leyland Cypress, "Why you Yellow Belly Sapsuckers!" :D. They beat them to death. When the trees died I guess it was slim pickins and the western red cedar siding on the house seemed similar. That took screen removal and some low angle tail warmers. Don't worry, they are fast and sat out there scolding. the next year, same thing. I think I finally broke that pattern.
This is a good couple of paragraphs on bird peck damage. As Bill noticed, it is the same damage and same bird as on hickory. I think he was picking up on the bark occlusions the article mentions;
Bird Peck (mtu.edu) (http://hardwoodbucking.mtu.edu/hardwood_defects/bird_peck.html)  
That link is worth bookmarking

Let me flip that scan right side up. Notice the bird peck and... well I learned that as included bark, but apparently its occluded bark, but whatever, the defect is called bird peck.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/leylandop.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1673912704)
 
Much better, north is up :D. It looks like there was about 10 years of bliss and then the bad neighbors moved in. I can't say for certain where I am on that tree here but I think that is a deer rub and a broken or browsed branch. The rolling scar tissue below the branch stub is called a ram's horn. Trees do not heal, they cover. This is tissue growing and rolling over the scrape and again you can se it including bark in that "repair" under the branch. If you look at the pecker damage the same repair mechanism is at work.

Did the borers move in after the scrape and bring the sapsuckers in? Or did the sapsuckers do their damage and then the borers moved into the sapsucker breaches in the bark? I suspect the latter, but I got nuthin  ;D. Down low the carpenter ants had gotten into the borer cavities and enlarged them for their use.

It seems to be pretty short lived, if you had a windbreak of nice leylands to harvest I think it would make nice paneling. It does like to tear, probably use shear cutters. It has the same fine nasty dust as northern cedar or Atlantic white cedar. Oh...

Leyland Cypress is a cross of .. here we go;

QuoteLeyland cypress (Cuprocyparis leylandii) is a hybrid cross between Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and nootka false cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis). It is a fast-growing evergreen conifer (24 to 48 inches per year in early years) with a dense, broad-columnar to narrow-pyramidal growth habit; the scaly bark is reddish-brown in color. It typically grows as a tree to 60 to 70 feet tall unless it is kept pruned as a hedge or specimen shrub. Leyland cypress has flattened sprays of gray-green foliage on slender upright branches, and dark brown 3/4-1 inch cones.

That article also says, not recommended anymore, too many pests and disease problems.

The canning jar box, happily it barely fits in the food DH, I suspect I did not get them all cut out.

While we're waiting on the search party, here's a favorite  :)


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/ppb.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1554673835)
 

Disclaimer, I did not see that bug make these holes but I think I've got the correct parties. They seem to prefer sapwood


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/ppbs_001.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1674223452)

Shhhh  ;)

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=120961.msg1952632#msg1952632

I think the termites around the lower perimeter were secondary in this very tight white oak floor joist. The termites gave up in the heartwood but this larvae didn't. But do notice they really prefer the starch rich sapwood.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/ppbs.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1674257139)

I need to polish that end grain and count rings, that is insane.

It got more interesting when I zoomed in and started counting rings... ~120, this tree was a sprout about the time this country was one.
Somebody bored the frass  ???
Notice checks follow the rays.
Was that one seriously wet summer? Hmm that is about the civil war and it is just a partial ring like that


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/annoPPB.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1674330896)


The top is the side of that log joist. look for the tiny holes, that is a true.
The lower board laid on the ground and got damp, those holes are I guess a false, which one?

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/anobiidNppb.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1674331767)
 

Those joists were practically on the ground hence the termites. I think we are maybe seeing both true and false with termites in the log end view. Old stuff is usually an interesting mixed bag.

Well this started 2 days and a page ago with a ... drum roll,
 PPB, Powderpost beetle,
clubbed antennae, the frass is smooth and fine, the hole is small ~1/16".

What I think I see most here damage-wise is anobiid ppb's rather than the "true" lyctid beetles but we have plenty of both. The anobiid beetle is hooded, needs higher moisture, slightly larger tunnels filled with a gritty frass. Will hit softwoods too. A ball point pen ball will go in the hole where it will almost go in a lyctid's hole.
There is a good description and more pics here;
Powderpost Beetles | Entomology (uky.edu) (https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef616)

It looks to me like lyctids tunneled in anobiid beetle tunnels in that joist above ???
The grey board with the larger diameter holes alongside the ppb holes in the side of the joist... As I looked at it in the shop at the end of the day it is oak timberworm damage. Wa-wa, I'll try to clean it up and stick it with that post a couple of pages back

And what I learned this time around, the larvae of ppb's is C shaped while a borer larvae is straight, pic here;
Powderpost beetle - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powderpost_beetle)

This is a side of things I've never paid a whole lot of attention to. The other revelation while reading, there are 70 species of powderpost beetle.

Hmm, looks like I killed this one  ::)
Nothing to lose now  :D
I was cleaning up, putting away tools, I need to make a list and hit ereplacement. Throwing scrap in the stove in the shop and some more defects,

This is easy, 2 different defects;
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/BirdPeck_ambrosia.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1675020767)
 

This is that one I think is an oak timberworm, it usually seems to look to me like a shotgun blast in one spot, and then another one in a different spot. (I'm not positive but I think I have this one right. Notice the holes are different in size.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/OakTimberworm1.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1675021000)
 


Slicing through one of the tunnels that got big. I think this is the larvae getting ready to pupate... but not at all certain. The frass there might be a tell.



(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/OakTimberworm2.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1675021048)
 


And totally unrelated but this piece has kicked around and under the building there for 20+ years. It has gotten smaller, it cannot rot. This is a board out of a salt curing meat house. A salt lick with fiber  :D. The floor of this building collapsed when I set foot on it. It was hanging on very rusty nails in degraded holes.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/saltCrib.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1675021087)
 

I've got a cypress slab that has the same looking pattern as your top picture.  I did not know that that insect would or could cause that in cypress.  I called WDH and asked him if he ever knew of that insect causing that phenomenon in cypress.  He suggested that it may have been caused by an imported variety of the bug.  I do miss picking his brain on a variety of things.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/56DB5E4B-BF5A-4774-827F-B142B91A861F.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1657107579)

The one in the top pic is ambrosia maple, in red maple, generally black lined holes in pairs or 3's. Not the best pic, a floor in a wine cellar.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/ambmple.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1215308944)
 

There is another Danny taught me that is a similar "flagworm" damage to both of those, in poplar among others Columbian timber beetle, or chestnut timber worm, Corthylus columbianus;
South/Corthylus columbianus - Bugwoodwiki (https://wiki.bugwood.org/Archive:South/Corthylus_columbianus)

I'm bound to have an example of that one... alas  :D

If you look at the streaks on the cypress, you can see the Ambrosia Beetle holes.  This is the only cypress that I can recall seeing with the streaks.  I do not intend to sell it unless someone offers a sizable sum.

Before it rolls by. The stick of poplar on the ambrosia maple in my pics above. That is wicked bad bird peck in poplar. That tree was also shakey. Ever notice how many times when you see something bad in a tree, you start to see multiple things. In that case I doubt the birds were the first thing going wrong with that tree.

I saw this in my gallery while looking for something else, columbian timber beetle  in yellow (tulip) poplar;
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/ColumbianTimberBeetle.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1496364516)
 

I finally got a few minutes to add a few this morning.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/5B6C824A-D803-463C-97A0-89D6540F756E.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675434650)These are the galleries created by the beetles below.  This beetle attacks southern yellow pines, usually at the bottom 4-6' of the tree and below.  If the number of pitch tubes is less than the tree's diameter in inches, the tree may survive an attack of this beetle.
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/7956B7EC-ADF5-4766-B5BC-AD02D292B5E3.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675427722)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/A2D74283-142B-4459-9902-1D1D61FCBB77.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675427719)
This is a pressed flat pitch tube created by the beetles pictured above.

Down low and looking like that on our EWP would probably be a BTB, black turpentine beetle.

Guilty as charged. 

 Black turpentine beetle is the largest of the three types of bark beetles commonly found in southern yellow pines.  These make the largest pitch tubes, the widest galleries, which are usually "D" and fan shaped.  I usually find them in trees that are stressed from a lightning strike, drought or other source. 
  black turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier) (ufl.edu) (https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/beetles/black_turpentine_beetle.htm)    

I think this is why I originally looked them up, it was like a shark attack,
 little sharks  :D

QuoteAdults are strongly attracted to volatile pine odors

I was the "bug forester" for 5 southeast Texas counties for 5 years, at one time flying those counties for weeks on end, that was back in the '70's when Texas was being decimated by the beetles.  We were ground checking 5 days a week for most of the year.  The largest timber loss for one entity was on the Alabama/Coushatta reservation where we estimated 3 million board feet of SYP was salvaged or lost, largely lost because of bureaucracy, another story.

We were working on all 5 syp beetles, big, middle and little Ip's, SYP beetle and the black turpentine beetle. Towards the late '60's and early '70's a bunch from Boyce Thompson Institute of Tecnology had a 640-acre square block of relative old growth timber under experimentation.  The came up with frontelur, a synthetic hormone that could direct the beetle in a stand.  They finally found that cut and leave was the best control.  We had been using cut and spray with benzine hexachloride for control, much to the horror of the environmentalists.

The three Ip's were the least of our worries, other that when they got started the real spb came in after them.  BTB was a matter of telling the landowner what spray combinations could control it.  Old timers would simply close the entrance hole by heating the pitch tube and mash it down.  

Long time ground checkers would look for the red tops, and at times could smell the attack, due to fresh rosin and some said the hormone. One of my best ground checkers was color blind and could spot the infestation by wilted needles, he said.

The heavy losses ended in the late '80's when most of southeast Texas had become one large plantation.

 

I remember back in the late '90s when eastern TN. north GA. area got hit hard. I think a company called Bow water took the biggest loss but it hit everyone in that area. I really hated it for them in that area as the losses had to really hurt lots of folks.

@Customsawyer, weren't those loblolly pines you took down between your house and your mill recently, attacked by black turpentine beetles?

Another disorder.   This is all that I have for this one, but I'll provide a few clues in addition to the galleries.  The pitch tubes are white (sometimes red), about the size of pencil erasers, occur between the bark plates and attacks generally begin in the upper parts of the tree, unlike the black turpentine beetle.  The accepted way to deal with it here is to clear cut all infested trees and also cut healthy trees 50' or more beyond those infested to create a buffer.  Infestations usually occur due to stress brought on by overstocking.
 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/2CF27203-A0C1-40B7-A7D4-63853134C709.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675596725)
 

The bureaucratic problem I mentioned came from the reservation leadership.  They would not let the logger jump ahead of the bug spot and cut back to it.  They had a member that was a truck driver for a major timber company that told them to only cut the red tops. Red tops being dead trees with the needle's dead and red.  The logger asked me to help, met with the rez leadership and was ignored.  Two weeks later they called me for advice which was to move out front of the beetles as Caveman mentioned.

We shut the spot down in about 10 days.  You fight bug spots like fire, with denial of fuel. 

SPB?

Southern Pine Beetle is correct.  
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN333 (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN333) 
The first time I saw the destruction caused by SPB was the first time I took a group of students to FFA Forestry Camp in 2001 at O'Leno State Park near High Springs, Fl.  Many longleaf and loblolly pines that were likely planted during the 30's by the CCC men were dying after an infestation.  A year or so later, a bunch of returning campers were tasked with replanting the area behind the cabins.  I looked at the progress and growth of those trees last summer while I was there.

We get ips engraver beetles in most of our sawlogs if we let them sit around for more than a few days.  Thankfully, I do not see SPB's often.

I spent the summer of '76 working in the state parks for YCC. That was fun and educational, that was part of my education unfortunately.

Caveman you are right that the Lobs that I took out were beetle killed. However as it has been said before they were under stress. Between my frequent little bon fires and the damage I cause driving equipment under them keeps some under stress. I lose some in my other patches of timber across the creek but it is less than half of what I lose in front of the house.

 
There should be enough here.  Generally, this one appears grey as in the bottom picture.  This one too is usually associated with stress, but it is not on pines.(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/CD48F902-E4A9-42DA-BA43-417C3E93304A.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675427760)
 

It looks like one that gets into my beeches. Is this fungal?

It is fungal.  The same genus of fungi evidently can get on several types of trees in addition to oak.  I usually find it on laurel oak and water oak during the spring or early summer after an extended dry stretch.  It will get on elms, pecans, beeches and even live oak occasionally.

It looks like nectria to me, which may be too much like saying "hey you". It is a genus of the ascomycete fungi. Species, not a clue. In beech, nectria coccinea var faginata follows beech scale.


Or, I'm all wet  :D

cytospora sp.?

I apologize for the poor specimens.  I'll try to get some better pictures tomorrow.  The bottom one, I'm almost certain is hypoxylon canker (of oak).  Hypoxylon will also kill the trees I listed above.  I'll go walk around a few minutes and see what I can find while I wait for a fellow to come pick up live oak flooring.
https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/uploadedFiles/TFSMain/Manage_Forest_and_Land/Forest_Health/Stewardship/Hypoxylon_Canker.pdf (https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/uploadedFiles/TFSMain/Manage_Forest_and_Land/Forest_Health/Stewardship/Hypoxylon_Canker.pdf)

I did not get far on my walk when I had stuff crop up that needed my attention.  No new hypoxylon pics tonight.  To me it looks like the bark is displaced by a grey, flat topping.  Tree death usually is not far behind.  

This one should be familiar to most.  
  I occasionally let a couple of these loose in my classroom.  Previously, I'd let a couple go in the school's administrative office.(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/9DC36A3C-CAAC-4F54-AE1F-470AD7D035CB.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675427740)
 

I have no clue but I know that this thread would be right in Tom's wheel house.

That kicked the rocking chair into gear and brought a smile;

Solved Sweet Gum in Tree, Plant and Wood I.D. (forestryforum.com) (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=556.0)

locust or Circadia.  Libby will run it the yard, and get them in her mouth and bite once and spit them out dead.  she apparently does not appreciate the music they make.  the used to scare my son so much, I am surprised he did not damage himself trying to run away.  great memory of summers in the heartland.

I've had them fly into a running circular saw while cutting fiberglass and I've also seen them fly into a running tile saw while it is cutting tile.  I suspect the frequency of the noise of these machines is close enough for them to think love is in the air. https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bugs/cicadas.htm (https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/bugs/cicadas.htm)

Depending on the species of cicadas, according to the source above, they can live from four to 17 years but only survive as adults for a short time (weeks).  They spend most of their lives underground.

Today's disorder is an invasive plant that is especially problematic in parts of southwestern Florida.  Ian will probably know it right off the bat.  It was planted in swamps to dry them out.  A very close relative is the ornamental plant called bottlebrush.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/161CFC43-6124-41F7-93D1-6A5755F62814.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675852958)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/DD6EEA38-77D8-48FF-BD56-DD32FF01158A.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675852982)
 
Bark, seed pod, leaves and twig.  The bark has a paper-like texture.

Don thanks for that ride down the back road. Those guys are a lot of fun to read.

I agree, thank you.  I did not have time to real all of the pages but I did enjoy reading the posts from some of the icons that helped make this such an incredible forum.

Thanks for sending my mind there  :)

Is this a potential biodiesel?

Wax tree?

Dragging us backwards, I got a good shot of oak timberworm damage, this one really shows the blast of multiple sized holes.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/timberwurm.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1675903341)
 

I'll let this invasive tree species run for a day or so.  I'll be at the Florida State Fair until next Wednesday, so I probably won't have time to post much.  

Do any of you wonder why so many critters are so determined to destroy our lumber?

Melaleuca, paperbark?
melquild.0x1800.jpg (1391×1800) (ufl.edu) (https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/site/assets/files/1197/melquild.0x1800.jpg)

If there is food, there is a mouth to feed  :).

Speaking of good eats, I haven't been to a state fair in too long. We think we get around, the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, I think around 1898, the first fair that could run at night, the lightbulb made its debut. About 1/4 of the country went, wow. Have Fun!

You got it, DonP.  I try to avoid the midway and usually stay pretty close to the animal barns (we have students with animal projects).  I do go down and look at the woodworking exhibits and take a walk through Cracker Country.

This is all I have on this insect caused disorder.  It may appear as a mass of pitch from an injury to a pine tree, grey/white/black moth, or the larva.  Longleaf pine cone below.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/6DF2946F-B183-4EFA-A242-7D324F041C94.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675937361)
 

southern pine coneworm?

Yessir.  https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/pine_coneworm.htm (https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/pine_coneworm.htm)

I suppose the features on these pine logs could be considered disorders.  The features on the cypress could also be considered a disorder.  I took these pictures as the forestry museum in Perry, Fl back in November while the FFA Forestry team was competing.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/11F90D7E-3E30-4928-9A73-7B9F7FCD9614.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675997020)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/11F90D7E-3E30-4928-9A73-7B9F7FCD9614.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675997020)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/D68FF3F3-0D58-4DF0-9DD7-4446C8A00100.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1675997121)
 

Turpentine collecting?

or cat faces on pecky cypress   :)
An  Appalachicola Trip in General Board (forestryforum.com) (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=5510.msg75368#msg75368)

Back in the '60's and '70's we would still find fat lighter pine from the old turpentine tree faces.

I actually dug a pine cat face stump up from right behind my mill. It is sitting by my blades right now. I need to find a place to display it in my store.

Jake, I was thinking about the catfaces you had posted about when I put these on.  Notice the three different types of catfaces and the three different collection methods.  The Herty Cup, in the second picture we considered revolutionary and much better for the tree than the previous method, pictured on the left.  The tool used to make the scars was called a hack.  No one has mentioned the cypress yet.
The turpentine trees attracted the black turpentine beetles.  Longleaf and slash were used for naval stores production.  

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/B14F880D-6D91-498D-BFCE-6DE59CBBB284.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1671150906)
 

This is dated and not PC at all, but it shows the industry as it was.

(1) Turpentine Industry Documentary from the 1940s - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzNxPY3ewas)

My ancestors were tarheels and worked in turpentine, goodness, nearly 200 years ago in the census's of the early 1800's. When Sherman crossed into NC they began lighting the longleaf forest for light and spite. In my oral history, when they emerged at the railhead in Sanford muddy and covered in soot, the fresh yankee troops did not at first recognize them.

QuoteUnion General Hamilton of the cavalry describes in detail his travel with Sherman's Army on this day: "In our march through North Carolina we were in the home of the long leaf pine which has given turpentine to the country and the name of 'Tar Heel State' to the fine old commonwealth of North Carolina. Here are extensive forests of trees from twenty inches to three feet in diameter and at least seventy feet without a limb but spreading at the top with a dense mass of interlocking limbs, clothed in evergreen leaves so dense as to exclude the sun. The ground is covered with four to six inches deep of pine needles, routing at the bottom but soft and clean on the surface. The turpentine is obtained by tapping these trees as we boys used to get molasses from our sugar trees long ago. But they cut notches deep enough to hold about a quart of sap, which is gathered into barrels and becomes the turpentines of commerce. The war had stopped all that and the notches are found full of congulated sap, which from different sources has oozed out and whitened the bark on the trunks of the trees higher up. Our foragers had set fire to the turpentine in the notches and the blaze extended to the resin on the bark, causing a smoke which could hardly escape through the green canopy above." (29:195)
By the time the 6th Iowa passed by the trees which had been set fire by Sherman's bummer's, one tree had burned a bit too much at the stump and the huge pine fell across the road and seriously hurt Musicians Madison Swift and George Guthces. It also badly wrecked a regimental wagon and killed Major Ennis' old mare, which at that time, was hitched to the rear of the wagon. (60:42)
--------------------------------------------------
...As the Union soldiers crossed the county, they fired the turpentine stills and trees, which sent up a dense black smoke-column that could be seen for miles by the Confederates. Rice Bull, 123rd New York writes of the night of the 18th, "It was eleven at night before we reached the brigade camp. It was in a 'tapped' pine forest, lighted by setting fire to the gum on the trees that would burn and smoke for hours. We were able to stand around the fires and dry out. We were a sight to behold as the black pitch smoke had added one more coat of coal-black to our faces and hands; we were like Negroes; we slept with our shoes on; we did not dare take them off for fear they would shrink so much we could not get them on in the morning. They were good and tight when we awoke." (9:229) (3:101)
--------------------------------------------------------
 "We moved to the vicinity of Newton Grove Cross-Roads and camped before night. Here white oak timber was seen for the first time in many days and was hailed by the troops with shouts of joy for it was something to get out of the pine woods." (60:428)

Thank you for sharing the video.  
  Sorry that i do not have anything else to show with this.  A few clues:  The larvae of this insect can cause damage to plantation and forest grown pines, especially in the first five years.  The Christmas tree industry is also economically impacted by this insect.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/FFDC6FF8-CD54-4D4D-8747-454431A52DAA.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1676111333)
 

Young and ruined leader.. White pine weevil, pissodes strobus?

One of the tip moths

Reminds of white pine weevil damage, but....tree appears to be 2 needle to a bundle, not 5 like wp.

So I don't know!

Pine tip moth.  That Texas forester is tough to get one by.
https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/moths/nantucket_pine_tip_moth.htm (https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/moths/nantucket_pine_tip_moth.htm)

My first day off road since racking an ankle around thanksgiving, don't believe I'll be dancing tomorrow.
I don't know if it matters, because, I know a common name but I don't really know who this is. Old red oak off the ground but bark gone and punky sapwood.  These guys showed up at the splitter.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/bugone.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1676584290)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/bugtwo.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1676584344)
 


While we were down in there, this caught my eye, and then several more in different species but all with about the same facing. I'd trust that more than "moss on the north side".


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/frostcheck.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1676584631)
 


And this was just cool;

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/burl.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1676585169)

Best I can tell pic #1 is a wood roach. I believe a parcoblatta, either a Virginia or Pennsylvania
Wood Roach Nymph (https://bugguide.net/node/view/347867)

I've seen the egg packets (ootheca) before but had not associated it with the bug. In that capsule are a couple dozen eggs. The insect emerges as a nymph, my pic above, and lives in that stage for a year or 2. The adult lives a few months. So this bug goes Egg>Nymph>Adult

The middle pic above is a frost check on a sweet birch. Ususally on ~ the WSW face. Sweet birch is a likely candidate, t has a lot of green on the leafless tree, it is working at a pretty healthy clip all year. This probably happened on a clear cold winter day. The tree warmed and was working. At some point late in the day a cloud passed over and the tree flash froze, popping that long check. Even though it was almost 70 the day I took that pic and 22 this morning, I don't believe that is fast enough to frost check one.

The burl, someone else will have to explain that to me.

The big boys down at the poolhall say might near anything can cause a burl.  In other words, no single source is known.  I read an article where carolina cherry laurel stems were routinely shot with a .22 to induce burl formation.  I am with the mases. No idea.

This not really a disorder but it could have caused me some discomfort had I not seen it on the log I was sawing this morning.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/9218E5F4-7C36-4316-8BE2-BA635B16FF46.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1676924827)
 

What species is that behind that hundred legged critter? That is beautiful, and outta the pond it looks like  :)

That some slash pine that made some 1x6's today.  It was at the point that it needed to be sawn or it was going to start feeding borers.  I'll post pics in the sawmill section.

A couple from this week. This one was all over the roof of an old farmhouse but luckily the weight was on the ground.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/RamsHorn1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1684069976)


This was in a very long walnut branch reaching over from the other side.
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/RamsHorn2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1684070019)
 

Oh, then there was this.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/cheeryvine.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1684070193)

The top pic looks like butt-rot of hardwoods.  The second pic looks like "heart rot". and the bottom picture is a mystery to me, maybe a fence line tree.  Thank you for posting.

We got a bit of rain yesterday from the outer bands. The dog was out walking me this morning and we saw this on the ground

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/beechbarkaphids4.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1695594419)


Into the grove we saw this under some trees, almost looks burned

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/beechbarkaphids.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1695594703)
 

Looking up we saw this;
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/beechbarkaphids2.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1695594454)
 

Here's what the individuals look like;

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/beechbarkaphids3.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1695594515)
 

I had thought it was calming down... hardly  ::).

You may have to share your knowledge on this one.  I've been checking in looking for an answer.

This is the beech blight aphid. I think it often occurs with beech bark disease which starts with a white scale insect that whitens the trunk, then a nectria fungus, then the aphid. I think I just have the aphid but these are not healthy trees, the aphids have come and gone for at least 20 years. The black under the trees is the fermenting honeydew from the aphid poo. Often when they die down the branches are black for the same reason.

Also known as the boogie-woogie aphid, when you touch a branch they all do the wave, kind of fun to play with them.
Is it beech bark disease? - MSU Extension (https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/is_it_beech_bark_disease#:~:text=Beech%20blight%20aphids%20are%20also,or%20base%20of%20the%20tree.)

Dancing Bugs! Beech Blight Aphids - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoAjGsg99h4)

Thanks for sharing.  I don't see beech trees here.  When I looked at the pictures, they looked like some type of wooly aphid or even a little like the hemlock wooly adelgid, but I did not see any hemlocks.  

My neighbor had some lumber stacked on stickers with a piece of roofing over it to shed the rain. He gave me a wide White Pine board because the ends had Carpenter Bee holes, made worse by the holes from woodpeckers extracting the bee larvae. The cut off in the photo with round holes is where the bees bored into the bottom of the board. The cutoff with elongated holes is the top of the board where the woodpeckers (I suspect Hairy Woodpecker) opened it up to get the larvae. I had never heard of this on stacked lumber. I get Carpenter Bees in the logs in my house and they are often in fascia boards. Thought you guys might find this of interest.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/50283/DSCN3261.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1697417920)
 

(https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/393451820_288532767429847_4848341364553778733_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p843x403&_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=A9pVJ83SXyAAX-JXX1m&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=00_AfA3ZXBeZdyo-EUyuTdzWqNUq85lG-EC3PNxdnAJzEhajw&oe=6535D8AC)

wood borer

The swamp is so dry around here that I decided to go for a short walk in the woods in what is now a preserve near my house (used to be a ranch).  I took a few pictures of some disorders and bugs that I will use with the FFA forestry team.  Some of these will be repeats from previous posts but it should be entertaining or educational for some.

1.(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7580~0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699185868)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7579~0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699185895)
These were on a red maple.  I'm not certain what caused the damage, but I have suspicions.  


2.(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7582.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699185965)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7581.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699185980)
The two pictures above are on a water oak in the pasture in front of my house.
.
3.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7590.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186070)
This is a young slash pine.


4.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7591.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186119)
This is on another young slash pine.  


5.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7592.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186169)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7593.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186190)
The above two pictures are of a slash pine with a terminal stem that has died but is resin soaked and swollen.  The tree is 12-14' tall.



6.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7595.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186366)
This is also on a young slash pine.

7 and 8 (below)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7598.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186421)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7599.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186443)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7600.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186461)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7597.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699186490)
The poor tree pictured in the four above photos had a lot going on.  It was in an area where the foresters, biologists or whomever is managing this parcel continue to burn too hot and kill really nice longleaf, slash and some loblolly pines.  This tree is still alive, but not for long.  The pitch tubes on the bark are not from the biggest or the smallest pine bark beetles that affect SYP's.  Most of the trees in the background are dead from the previous burn and some from the most recent.

To avoid confusion (I hope), the descriptions are below the pictures and the numbers are above.

A challenge, sap sucker, internal rot, needle cast, slash pine is slash pine, tip moth, bark beetle of either SPB or big Ips, without looking under the bark can be either, no evidence of black turpentine beetle.

All challenging on a daily basis for a forester, neat post.

Thank you, Texas Ranger.  I enjoy finding this stuff.  It sometimes frustrates me when at district forestry contests some of the county foresters just put some pictures out on the table of a few disorders.  I found all of the stuff pictured on 2-7 on a one-hour walk.  There were several other disorders, diseases or invasive that are on the list that I did not take pictures of.

Based on the list that we have for the FFA contest, I would have called 2. Butt-rot of hardwood (Ganoderma maybe) 3. Pine needle rust 4.  Needle cast 5. Pitch canker  6. Ips engraver beetles.  I don't see southern pine beetles here often, but when I do, the pitch tubes are generally white and in between the bark plates as well as about the size of a pencil eraser.  I did not peel the bark to look at the gallery patterns.  7. Ambrosia beetle dust at the base of the tree and wood borer holes in the bark (they may not have shown up in the pics).

If I'm wrong on any of these, let me know please.  My team members were at the National FFA Convention last week and their state contest is 11/15.  They will likely all be ill this week and need to get better at forestry every day from now until then to have a shot on the 15th.

I was hoping a few more folks may have found this of interest.  I'll post a few more pics of some we've already done just because.

These pictures are all of one bug and its effects on pine logs and lumber.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/View_recent_photos.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699231965)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7534.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699232102)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7533~0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699231972)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7526.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699231977)
 
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/IMG_7530~0.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1699232144)
I probably need a manicure but will likely not get one.   

Familiar, but have to go to the books.  Got old, ya know! 8)

You are still as sharp as a tack.  I appreciate the knowledge that you share.  I enjoy reading about your experiences as a forester.  Had I known anything about the profession and if I could have sat close enough to a smart person to pass the math classes, I may have chosen that career path. 

I for one appreciate all the effort you put into keeping this going.
On the last pictures I'm at a loss but will be watching with interest.

Quote from: caveman on November 05, 2023, 10:22:53 PM
You are still as sharp as a tack.  I appreciate the knowledge that you share.  I enjoy reading about your experiences as a forester.  Had I known anything about the profession and if I could have sat close enough to a smart person to pass the math classes, I may have chosen that career path.

Math didn't bother me, it was that pesky dendrology that gave me a fit, Ozark boy being faced with Latin binomials.

More of a disorder, and the most common problem we face in the woods.  Two cookies of southern pines. Both in the 80 year old range.  Whats the problem?  Oh, bonus, what caused the hollow in the big cookie?


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10007/cookies.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1699297484)

I'd be leaning towards red heart of pine on the pictures above, which is one of the heart rots mature and overmature pines, especially longleaf pines get.  If this is indeed the disorder, the lack of mature and overmature longleaf pines is one of the main reasons for the decline of the red cockaded woodpecker.

Customsawyer, the pictures I posted right before Texas Ranger's post were all of pines that had ambrosia beetles.  The beetles vector a fungus into the wood which feeds on the sugars in the sapwood.  The fungus causes blue stain in pine.  The little straw-like tubes and the fine boring dust at the base of the tree is also from the ambrosia beetles.  The beetles eat the fungus.  The ambrosia beetles, when viewed from above, look like they have little devil horns on the back ends.  
https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/beetles/platypus.htm (https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/beetles/platypus.htm)

red heart.  But why the difference in size for basically the same age?  I was leaning to ambrosia beetle but old eyes didn't let me get a good look, poor excuse, should have gone with the straw.

The smaller diameter is a result of overcrowding? Not enough sunlight or moisture?

Quote from: ljohnsaw on November 06, 2023, 04:08:53 PM
The smaller diameter is a result of overcrowding? Not enough sunlight or moisture?

You are looking in the right direction, but, south east Texas, lots of rain and sunlight.  Possible over crowding, small stem plantation grown, planted around 1955-60.  Big stem grown in woods, from about the same time.  On the crowding you need to look down, not up.

So if not lack of sun and water, then root space? Growing on hardpan or other very poor soil? I can't see a lot of brush crowding causing stunted growth.

You got it.  The little stem is slash pine, out of range and the wrong soil, black gumbo.  Poorly matched species to a really bad soil for trees.  The large cookie is  loblollly pine from the best soil and site I know of, in a bottom on the Reservation.  Back in the '50's some of the companies with south east ties decided slash and its form would work here in Texas, not much and I know of no slash plantations left.

Slash pine grows well here.  If an area of longleaf is clearcut, slash pine will fill in, in a hurry.  We have some loblolly here, but there is a lot more to the north.  I planted some loblolly here several years ago.  Some have a dbh of 2" and just a few feet away, others have a dbh of 10" or more.  I planted them really close to each other to try to increase stress and have a convenient place to collect disorder samples.  They have grown better than I anticipated.  

I could have gotten a borer but he must have been too quick.
I saw this end grain on some pallet runner stock and remembered a recent conversation about stain, but I can't remember where ffcheesy . These are bookmatched consecutive cuts This was a standing dead Eastern White Pine. I didn't look for the cause but several have succumbed to BTB, black turpentine beetle, and that bit of pitch pocket has me wondering. The 2 stains I was wanting to show are common in EWP, bluestain is from slow drying in warm weather, it is a sugar eating fungi that is going after the sugar in solution within the cell cavity. The brown, or coffee, stain is from slow drying, usually humid conditions, it is the extractives moving to the drying front, dissolving and carried along with the moisture as it is slowly wicking to where drying is happening. You can see some unaffected heartwood towards the center. Those were 1.5x3" runner sticks, that tree was moving on.

Anyway, a good example of a couple of stains;

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10017/coffeeBlue.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=352955)