Historical Pepper tree in troubles

George Valentine

Hi peoples,

Today I was looking at 2 old magnificent Pepper trees in my area, one should be added to a thread I saw about trees eating "things", funny stuff that is/was...!

The second one, a few miles further down, was planted in 1841 and when the Power companies put the power-lines up, this tree started to get a "chop" at the canopy, because of the power-lines just above. This wasn't the case of a wrong tree planted in the wrong place as power-lines were non existent in that area at the time of this place development.

After 170, this tree is looking pretty bad, large cracks, lots of dead wood and the large burled formations all around it are expelling lots of white ugly stuff as if the burled wood was "melting" from the inside out.
Obviously, the tree is on its last days and 2 questions were raised by the owners of the place.

What is all that white stuff coming out of the burled wood, and would the tree re-shoot if cut at soil level, hoping the roots aren't diseased with whatever that white stuff is....???

Your assistance on this matter would be most appreciated...!

Cheers
George

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George Valentine

A few more pics to complete the set I took from the tree...!

Cheers
George

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kaazih

Aside from the gully cutting I'd say are still in pretty good condition for the species - Schinus. Maybe when the decay is more than 90% you'd start to be worried.

These are sometimes known as Peruvian mastic which might explain the white substance.

George Valentine

Thanks for that kaazih...!

I do agree that, from a distance the canopy looks pretty green and "lush" however, there is a tremendous amount of dead wood (not surprising due to its age) and that white substance is not old, as the owners haven't seen it before...!

I will do some reading (research) on the names you provided, as I'm curious on what the life expectancy is for these trees and what diseases affect them the most, I may identify the white substance bleeding from the burled wood, only...!

I am also interested in knowing if these tree species will shoot successfully from a total low (ground level) trunk cut/removal as I often see many shoots growing from many parts of the outer lower tree butt skin, mostly where some minor damage/bruisers/ have occurred.

Cheers
George

George Valentine

A quick read out gave me some interesting info and I believe, what you were referring to, when you said "These are sometimes known as Peruvian mastic which might explain the white substance." is what the pic 1 shows, which I never saw before...!

The difference I can see is not only in the young leafs but also by the fact that this specific 170 years old tree, doesn't have/show any new shoots in the trunk, reason why I'm some how concerned that if the tree is cut to salvage the wood/burl still workable, that the old root system isn't going to re-shoot...!

The pic 2 is a better match to other old Pepper trees I see around, not only from the burled type formation but also from the shoots that I mention on my previous post. This seemed to me a better match to the 170 year old tree that pic #1

Cheers
George

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Paul Toivonen

I would guess the burl has a higher resin content, compared to the rest of the tree (normally what happens).
The tree is using the burl as a store, similar to the heartwood.
I have seen that stuff extruded from all parts of Schinus.
The wood is also quite rubbery when dry and does not burn very well.
Tell them not to worry about it.
PS ;It shouldnt re-shoot if you stump grind 300mm below ground level.

Eric Frei

I was going to say similar, and you see similar white pitch exuded from say Norfolk pines when cut and after time you get long dry dribbles like candle wax.

It's a good sign, worry not. I think they got quite a few more years in them, light prune and deadwood it.

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