Deadly "whiskers" on Pink Dogwood

Stuball48

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We have a pink Dogwood that has grown "whiskers" and every part of the tree with whiskers has died or is dying. Do any of you recognize or have had this problem. The Pink Dogwood will meet with an Ecco chainsaw within the hour and lose that battle, also. Never seen it before and hopeful you can enlightened me.
Thanks
 

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chazmo

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Are they hard, or are they like some sort of insect infestation, Stuball? I have no idea what that is. They look like (harmless) moth cocoons to me, but those would rub right off if that's what they were... Keep me/us posted.
 

Stuball48

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Are they hard, or are they like some sort of insect infestation, Stuball? I have no idea what that is. They look like (harmless) moth cocoons to me, but those would rub right off if that's what they were... Keep me/us posted.
They are not hard and would fall off after few days.
 

chazmo

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Possibly this fungus?

Looks like it starts in the leaves, but eventually those little shoots emerge & result in death of the main tree trunk.

Dogwood Anthracnose
Yeah, this is definitely it. What you're looking at appears to be called "cankers". Sorry you're seeing it, Stuball.

That article mentions some mitigation you can take (obviously too late for your tree) in the future.
 

Stuball48

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Possibly this fungus?

Looks like it starts in the leaves, but eventually those little shoots emerge & result in death of the main tree trunk.

Dogwood Anthracnose
Certainly has some similarities but didn't notice it on leaves just truck and limbs. First noticed it on ground at base of tree.
It bloomed beautifully this spring and when we were visiting grandchildren in GA we had lots of rain in Tennessee. We noticed it about three weeks after we got back.
 

schoolie

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Sorry to hear. Anthracnose is killing off all of the native dogwoods in the Pacific Northwest. The cases that I've seen start with reddish-brown spots on the leaves.
 
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Brad Little

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Sorry to hear. Anthracnose is killing off all of the native dogwoods in the Pacific Northwest. The cases that I've seen start with reddish-brown spots on the leaves.
Don't know if it's the same thing, but something was threatening dogwoods here (CT). My uncle (pretty good amateur naturalist) once in the '90s told me it looked like the third tree to die off in his lifetime, the others were the American Chestnut and the Elm. He also said the Japanese Dogwood seemed to be immune to whatever it was.
 

chazmo

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As an aside, up here, the most notable threats to the trees in recent years are: 1. Some disease which infects the hemlock trees. I've seen many of these wither and die over the last 10 years. The good news is that hemlocks aren't exactly in short supply. 2. Asian Longhorn Beetle... This pest has cause some quarantining over the last 10 years and it is very dangerous to hardwood trees, especially the maples which are extremely important in the NE.
 

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My elders always held dogwood tree in high regard. One as an expression of their religious beliefs and the other as a reliable indicator of the last frost of winter. I would hate to see the dogwood suffer the same fate as the Elm and Chestnut.

Then again, nature is gonna do what it's gonna do. We could help by not introducing invasive species and other fungi, but that's a tall order. I fear a world where the only tree left is a Bradford Pear.
 

Stuball48

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Stuball,
Ever thought of building a guitar?
Might be an opportunity to take those lemons and make lemonade.
RBSinTo
That thought has, probably, crossed many forum members' minds - mine included. It would have to be a rewarding feeling. I would guess a pretty sizable investment in tooling.
 

davismanLV

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That thought has, probably, crossed many forum members' minds - mine included. It would have to be a rewarding feeling. I would guess a pretty sizable investment in tooling.
Not only tools but time and effort. It's a lot of work and rewarding, but not sure if I'd start my hobby build with an unknown wood type as an "experiment". Imaging going through all that to find that there's a reason Dogwood isn't used in guitar building!!
 
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