Ancient bark characteristics   djluth-@pennswoods.net   Jan 30, 2007 07:24 PST  Lee, What's your take on why balding & deep furrowed bark characters often form on old/ancient trees? I often attribute these characters to patterns of suppression and release, but am not 100% sure that's the correct interpretation. Thanks!!! Dale Re: ancient trees & bark characters   Lee E. Frelich   Jan 30, 2007 09:04 PST  Dale, For species like oak and maple, deep furrowing occurs when the growth rate of the trunk is slow, as it often is in old trees, so the bark is not pushed off as fast as in younger trees. There is also a balance between rate of erosion of bark versus growth rate of the bark itself. Certain fungi that live in bark can cause higher rates of erosion or flaking off of bark, causing balding on some portions of some trees. Lee Re: ancient trees & bark characters   djluth-@pennswoods.net   Jan 30, 2007 10:02 PST  Thanks Lee, I've noted the deep furrowing character on ancient cucumbertree too. There is also a type of deep furrowing pattern on some of our ancient hemlocks that resemble that found on our ancient white pines (~315 years). The bark is so deeply furrowed on one particular hemlock, that if I only looked at the bark, I easily would've called it a white pine. I tried coring this particular tree years ago, but the sample was so punky it practically disintegrated when it came out of the borer. The incredible "shaggy" appearance of some of our old red maples is also peculiar. One could mis-identify these from a distance as shagbark hickory. I've measured select "shags" on two of our old red maples in particular that were in excess of 2ft long. Would the reasons for the shaggy character possibly follow the same patterns you outline below? Dale Another bark appearance question/comment   Steve Galehouse   Jan 30, 2007 19:42 PST  The current discussion regarding the Michigan scarlet oak champion made me wonder how much regional variability there is concerning what is "typical" for a species---does a black oak (or other tree species) have the same bark characteristics in Georgia as it does in Ohio? I've included a photo of a northern red oak on the left, and black oak on the right, showing what I consider to be typical for bark appearance for each species. Both trees are about 30" diameter. Would these trees be considered typical for their species in other states? http://thumbsnap.com/v/gPNAbkbO.jpg Steve RE: Another bark appearance question/comment   Doug Bidlack   Jan 30, 2007 23:02 PST  Steve, I'm so glad you brought this up. Here in Massachusetts your photo is exactly like what I normally see here. However, in southeastern MI I am used to seeing black oak bark that is very blocky, almost like alligator hide or something. I wonder if this has to do with the drier conditions in MI where I always saw this tree. I noticed that when I have seen the blocky black oak bark in MA it has always seemed to be on really dry ridges. I hope I'm not completely making this up. Doug Re: ancient trees & bark characters   Lee E. Frelich   Jan 31, 2007 05:40 PST  Dale: I have observed that old shagbark hickory trees growing slowly have either a lot of shag, and many layers, or have shed their shag and have smooth areas, so the same things might be going on as with oak and maple (however, that is speculation, I have not seen any studies of shagbark hickory bark). Red, silver and sugar maples in the Midwest sometimes look like shagbark hickory, and the reasons are a mystery to me. Lee   Home