News Plants

Bleeding Trees: Microbial suspect named in beech deaths

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

A relative of the microbe that caused the Irish potato famine may be the killer in puzzling deaths of beech trees in the northeastern United States.

BEECH BUMMER. A funguslike invader identified on the East Coast may trigger beech dieback, bark spots that ooze, oddly pink wood (below), and eventually death of the tree.