Researchers at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at the University of Western Sidney have recently discovered that trees do more than just move water up and down, water can be moved laterally and even be stored within tree tissues. While traditionally we assumed that trees maintained two distinct systems, xylem and phloem, for the…
The term “hardwood” refers to trees, usually flowering trees and shrubs, which produce dense heavy wood due to their thick-walled, densely packed fiber cells and abundance of tracheids and vessel elements (water conducting tissue). Hardwoods can be further categorized depending on their density into groups such as “medium heavy”, “heavy”, “very heavy” and “ironwood” for…
Infection Imposition Bacterial Leaf Scorch (BLS) is a chronic, infectious tree disease caused by the xylem-limited bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. It is transmitted by xylem feeding insects and colonizes the water transmitting tissue. Similar to the effects of Dutch elm disease it will physically clog the xylem, impairing the trees ability to conduct water from roots to crown.…
Disease Diagnosis Dutch elm disease (DED) is one of the most destructive diseases affecting shade trees in the United States today. This disease is caused by the fungus Ophiostoma ulmi, and vectored via either European or native elm bark beetles. It has also been found to spread from plant to plant through root grafts among adjacent trees. Affecting…
