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Twig to these: a trunkful of tree facts

by Jo Currie
Illegal aliens

Cottagers who bring firewood from home may be inadvertently spreading tree pests and diseases such as the Asian long-horned beetle and the emerald ash borer – both recent arrivals to Ontario. The latter has killed 10 million or more trees south of the border, and is currently confined to southwestern Ontarioand southeast Michigan. Buy firewood from a supplier in your local cottage area, park foresters urge, and be sure to ask where the wood came from.

Denim blues

What happens when a killer fungus and a killer insect get together? They zap a lot of trees – but can also create lumber with a distinctive blue pattern. Blue-stain fungus is carried into pine trees by bark beetles. White pine is one vulnerable target. (See question on p. 66.) The largest insect epidemic in British Columbia’s history, caused by a similar pest, the mountain pine beetle, has forced the harvest of millions of lodgepole pines. But the resulting blue-stained wood, dubbed “denim wood,” is now being marketed for everything from buttons to log houses – giving new meaning to the phrase “drop-dead gorgeous.”

Raising a stink

For us humans, the penetrating odour of commercial turpentine – made from the resins of several pine species native to the southeastern U.S. – is unmistakable, even at a distance. However, we’re olfactorily challenged compared with turpentine beetles (Dendroctonus spp.), whose organs of smell are specially designed for sniffing out the turps-like resins in your favourite pine, spruce, tamarack, or fir. All it takes is a small wound, or some environmental stress (perhaps the singeing heat from a campfire below), to release the scent so attractive to the beetles, who flock to the tree, further wounding it and releasing even more of the alluring aroma. Now that’s a vicious cycle.

Forest forensics

At the website for the Laurentian Forestry Centre in Sainte-Foy, Que., you can guide yourself through a step-by-step presentation to identify a tree, determine what part of it is affected, and then target the insect or disease that’s doing the damage. There are excellent side trips into Entomology 101 and Pathology 101, and a helpful glossary. Go to www.cfl.scf.rncan.gc.ca/collections-cfl/home.html.

Redo your roots

If the trees at your cottage are nearly all mature, you should be planting young ones to replace them. Alan Watson, director of The Arboretum at the University of Guelph, advises that small seedlings, 3–10 cm high, are the best size to replant. Ideally, you should dig them up from around your property or – with permission, of course – from a neighbour’s. You don’t want to introduce genetic stock that’s not adapted to local conditions, because it could cross-pollinate and eventually weaken local tree populations. Early September is a good time to plant, so seedlings can set new roots before frost. Plant more than you need – you can always thin them later.

If you can’t find local trees to transplant, you may be able to buy seedlings grownfrom seed sourced in your area, or at least close enough that they’ll be similar. Nurseries that grow trees from source-identified seed are listed in the 2004–2005 Native Plant Resource Guide, available from the Society for Ecological Restoration at www.serontario.org, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources at (800) 667-1940.

A call for big elms

The Arboretum at the University of Guelph is looking for Ontario elms large enough to have been mature during the 1960s, when the first wave of Dutch elm disease (DED) swept the province. Some of these survivors are likely to have genetic resistance to the disease, making them candidates for The Arboretum’s Elm Recovery Project. Once a candidate elm is identified, cuttings from the tree are grafted onto rootstock and tested. Those that show good resistance are maintained in a seed-producing orchard, so that in 12 to 14 years, genetically diverse DED-resistant seeds can be distributed to growers.

The Arboretum would like to hear about any healthy elm with a circumference greater than 213 cm at chest height. If you know of one, or would like to be a donor to the project, call The Arboretum at (519) 824-4120, ext. 52113. To download an elm- reporting form, go to
www.uoguelphca/arboretum/SpProjects/elmreport.

 

 

Published in the June 2005 issue of Cottage Life magazine.

Copyright © 2005 by Cottage Life. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any article, photograph, or artwork, for other than personal use, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher is strictly forbidden.