The stump revealed the extent of the internal decay. The site lost a
beautiful tree, but the park is now safer for the hundreds of daily users.
Prior to construction, Tree #84 was a majestic pin oak that was
identified as a high priority tree to preserve and protect.
In the late winter, this fruiting body appeared on the trunk, trigger-
ing extensive diagnostic testing and risk assessment.
OSU scientists concluded that the fungus most closely
resembled Inonotus dryadeus, the causal agent of dry-
adeus root rot.
The final call was up to me. Given the size of the tree,
its location near several walkways that hundreds of
people would use daily when the park reopened, and if
indeed it was Inonotus (for which there is no treatment
and usually indicates extensive trunk and root decay), I
concluded the risks were too great and recommended
that the tree be removed immediately.
The park managers, and even the general contractor,
challenged my decision. The tree, to their eyes, looked
healthy and solid. They could have been right, and I had
my own doubts, but I had made my decision. Reluctantly
they accepted my recommendation and two weeks later,
the tree was removed. As the first 60 feet (18 m) of the
tree was pieced and lowered down, the wood was clear
and solid. At 20 feet (6 m), slight discolorations of the
wood appeared. It wasn't until the bottom 5 feet (1.5
m) and the final stump was exposed that the extent of
decay was revealed. All the root flares had extensive
decay and a large cavity was filled with a black soup of
rotting cellulose.
From that point forward, and to this day, everyone
involved in the project respected my expertise as an
arborist and I was rarely challenged again. Interestingly
though, three weeks after I noticed the fruiting body on
the trunk, it was gone. By that time, efforts were well
underway to solve the mystery, but had I not been mon-
itoring the trees on a regular basis, I could have easily
missed it, and the result of that omission could have
been disastrous.
In the fast-paced and changing environment of a con-
24 City Trees
