What happened to my poor tree?

emmo

I live in Oklahoma. I don't even know what kind of tree this is. We just noticed today that it looks dead and has some kind of fungus or something. It has absolutely no new growth anywhere I can find, but the branches still bend a bit... Is it dead? What should we do?

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Brent Ferris

Does it have any branches at all -- even if the buds have not flushed, the location along the branch, and the form of the tree can help with identification,. Unfortunately, your pics show trunk bark only and about all I can say for sure is -- it is a hardwood, and it might be maple or ash. Need better pics. The fungus at the ground looks like the tree is a goner.,

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Eric Frei

I think that tree is cactus.

Also, and a big maybe .... might have got zapped with lightning, the roots died and now it's dying all over. The cracks in the wood like that remind me of the typical cracks you see when lightning zaps trees.

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Brent Ferris

Don't know about lightning Eric, unless the tree is in the open it is prob too small to be hit by lightning -- looks more like severe dehydration, 3rd pic shows a lot of bark missing -- in any case that much fungus at bottom of tree says to remove the tree and stump and start another tree somewhere else

__________________
My business: Tree Pruning and Removals -- Strump Removals -- Advice -- Consulting -- Arborist Reports
If you want an honest opinion, call Brent Ferris...because, Trees want to Live Too !
We do great jobs, even in small yards.

Free Estimates Oakville to Oshawa - North to Bradford (Will travel further if cost of travelling covered)

emmo

I don't think it's cactus. And all the trees around it are fine. The grass (not directly under it, but a few feet away) is green and lush. Here is a full pic of it...

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Eric Frei

Do you know what cactus means?

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Brent Ferris

Eric's cactus means dead -- and your last pic confirms it - dead.(unless those leaves in the background belong to the tree in question)

__________________
My business: Tree Pruning and Removals -- Strump Removals -- Advice -- Consulting -- Arborist Reports
If you want an honest opinion, call Brent Ferris...because, Trees want to Live Too !
We do great jobs, even in small yards.

Free Estimates Oakville to Oshawa - North to Bradford (Will travel further if cost of travelling covered)

Garry Brockley

So you show pictures of what looks to be a stump with the bark falling off and no surprise it looks to be totally dead then after the fact you add a picture from further back showing its foliage and wonder why you get differing results.
the tree is badly damaged it''s cambium is damaged and looks to be receeding and the heart wood is open to the elements meaning that all the pathogens around can get directly inside the tree and kill it. the likely hood of this tree being anything other than a statistic in 1000's to 1, i.e.CACTUS

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emmo

OK, I posted that pic b/c "treeshaveneeds" response indicated the need for a "better pic". I never "wondered why I got a differing results" (Garry)...?

I'm not an arborist, lol. I don't know what cactus means. I came on this site to get an "expert" opinion of what to do with this tree that I know absolutely NOTHING about.

I'm a psychologist. If you ever went to a mental health forum and posted a question for an expert opinion, you would NOT expect to be made fun of for not knowing what "antisocial" means, or another psychological term that people get incorrect, right?

RUDE, but funny at the same time. Thanks for the help, tree nerds.

bill24

Lucky you're a psych. Emmo, it'd help you understand why you need to have some better judgement when meeting people for the first time and asking them for assistance and after getting it show some .

Suspect that your visit was short and not likely to occur again !

Eric Frei

LOL, I got in a debate with a psychologist who believed in God, and another who believed in ghosts ..... seems fact and proof have little value these days.

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bill24

The psych. who thinks to much about how others think will think he's Ok but just needs to get out and do a similiar amount of work with his hands to get some proper balance, then he might think a bit better.

Interesting debates Eric !!

Jeff Darby

lol..my mrs works for a phone in first treatment medical advice line, eg; go to work you bludger or get to the drs asap....get the picture? and they have psych people there ready for the call, and they call them the "Crazies" so you are right they need to get amongst some hands on type of people for some reality!.

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