This ancient maple tree, marking the corner of my wife's 25 acres that is the subject of my ongoing surveying education, fell this spring, revealing this strange coloring within. I can't tell if it's paint, dye, something growing (fungus?), or something else. It's less than 8" away from the pipe driven very near the point, and blood red.
Could it have been paint used years ago marking the corner, only to get grown over? Something else? Any ideas?
From our dendrologist:
From what I can see here my best guess is a OLD bacterial wet wood activity.
Bacterial wet has a strong smell associated with it because it thrives in anaerobic condition. It wouldnÛªt be uncommon in an old maple. This ID is best guess given info on hand.
Looking closer at the photo, I've noticed that the area in question probably was sealed off from air. The arrow points to a piece of the tree that was peeled away (probably when it fell, although the tree fell at right angles to the angle this red piece peeled off). Curious indeed. I didn't think to smell it. I will next time I visit.
Looks a little like this.
Plain old cedar (Juniper)
Sometimes it is even redder than in this photo.
Holy Cow, post: 426293, member: 50 wrote: Looks a little like this.
Plain old cedar (Juniper)
Sometimes it is even redder than in this photo.
Ya, that's cedar all right. This is maple. Never seen maple this color. I'm going to give it the sniff test. Hopefully it's not all dried out by now.