kackberry trees

[ewoolsey]

are the hackberry trees dieing in your area ? im taken out 6 in one yard that are mostly dead, i have been seeing here in the last year a lot of them dieing.

 

[ewoolsey]

ttt

 

[TrillPhil]

Done a couple for bad storm damage this year but that's it really. Alot of dead ash though.

 

[tree md]

They are native and Plentiful here in Oklahoma. They are doing fine here. We lost a lot during the large ice storm we had a few years back but all the native trees, including Hackberrys, fared better than most.

 

[stihl_in_texas]

Around here if you don't see them dying, then somethings wrong. Seriously, I've heard they are non-native to this area so that might have something to do with it. On the other hand, they seem to thrive in this good old black dirt. As a matter of fact, there's one behind my house that's pretty good size, 24" or so in diameter, and appears to be healthy.
You won't travel too far between a hackberry, dead or living, around here. Definitely not in short supply.

Steve

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Hackberrys, fared better than most.

The Betula nigra were just destroyed! I saw only a few single stem straight ones that were worth saving.

 

[tree md]

I'm still doing storm damaged River Birch John. They love to plant them in landscaped areas right by the house here. That's what I call job security...

 

[arbor pro]

are the hackberry trees dieing in your area ? im taken out 6 in one yard that are mostly dead, i have been seeing here in the last year a lot of them dieing.

Seen a lot of Ash Anthracnose in my area from heavily saturated soils causing heavy leaf drop on Ash but they're not dead from it - at least not yet.

Not seeing too many issues with Hackberry. They're a pretty hardy tree around here and I'm in zone 2-3 so the winters can be pretty brutal on them.

 

[pdqdl]

I have not noticed any problems in our area, and we have lots of hackberry.

I would consider looking closer at the problem. Are these mature trees that died, or immature? When did they die, and what were the symptoms?

Look close for a causative agent, including everything from chemical applications to soil compaction in hot dry weather.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

http://www.google.com/search?q=hack...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Searching "Hackberry Decline" gets quite a few hits.

C. australis had a phytoplasm isolated in declining trees in Europe.

South Dakota has some large areas with HD.

Get PDF (759K)
Keywords:

* Celtis australis;
* decline;
* phytoplasma;
* polymerase chain reaction;
* restriction fragment length polymorphism

Summary

The presence of phytoplasmas in declining trees of European hackberry was demonstrated for the first time using polymerase chain reaction assays with primers amplifying phytoplasma 16S rDNA regions. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of these DNA fragments together with PCR, employing primers specific for particular phylogenetic groups of phytoplasmas, made it possible to detect the presence of aster yellows group (16SrI) related phytoplasmas. These were classified into two different subgroups (I-B and I-C) and were present in both symptomatic and asymptomatic hackberry plants. Aster yellows-related phytoplasmas were found in all the root samples collected during the winter. In addition, phytoplasmas from the peach X disease group (16SrIH) were found in four out of 10 root samples; in five root samples phytoplasmas of the elm yellows group (16SrV) were also present.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-7348.1996.tb07320.x/abstract[/QUOTE]

 

[fishercat]

never seen them up here.

They are everywhere around Knoxville Tn.they all looked healthy to me.Any good for firewood?

 

[ewoolsey]

They are everywhere around Knoxville Tn.they all looked healthy to me.Any good for firewood?

yes, hackberry is good fire wood , most around here mix it with oak or locust.

 

[fishercat]

good to hear.

yes, hackberry is good fire wood , most around here mix it with oak or locust.

seams like a real hard wood.

 

[ewoolsey]

I have not noticed any problems in our area, and we have lots of hackberry.

I would consider looking closer at the problem. Are these mature trees that died, or immature? When did they die, and what were the symptoms?

Look close for a causative agent, including everything from chemical applications to soil compaction in hot dry weather.

they are of all size, dont see anything wrong with the tree's ,some have a limb or two still a live.

 

[TrillPhil]

we pay to dump hackberry, supposedly dries and goes poof.. never burned any of it though.

 

[pdqdl]

...
Summary

The presence of phytoplasmas in declining trees of European hackberry was demonstrated for the first time using polymerase chain reaction assays ...

Geez, JPS! I left my DNA polymerase reaction assay kit at my mom's house when I left high school. I'm not sure how that article will help the average arborist identify the problem.

It's good to know that someone in academia is seriously working on it though.

 

[tree md]

LOL.

I have been chatting with JPS on this sight for nearly 10 years now. He has continued his education and broadened his knowledge of trees and arborculture that entire time. I think he likes to throw Latin and me just to make me look up stuff...

 

[pdqdl]

I usually look to JPS to have the best advice and the most cogent diagnosis of a problem. I think he is over the top on this one.

The DNA (or RNA) polymerase reaction is used to multiply minute amounts of nucleic acid for sequencing and identification. Obviously, this is a rather technical enterprise that is left exclusively in the hands of laboratory geeks.

I would venture that the cited article does not give any advice for a practical method for identifying the cause of the disease. The summary seemed to be about the relative usefulness of the polymerase method for ID'ing which variety of phytoplasm would be contained in any given sample.

 

[pdqdl]

This appears to be a follow-up study to the one JPS cited. Good, but limited data available in the summary. Sadly, you must subscribe and pay for copies of this article.

Or go to the local University library, who might be able to get it for free. Linda Hall Library will almost certainly have it, but I don't know if they will send copies to just anybody.

http://www.actahort.org/members/showpdf?booknrarnr=496_9

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

So if there is no control agent currently available you should just shrug crack a beer and watch a rerun?

Ash-yellows is a phytoplasmic disease, research has found the organism in 30-40% of healthy trees. This leads to the idea that cultural practices can help the plant tolerate the pathogen.

Reading a few of the hits in the initial search yielded the nugget that Hackberry decline is genetically similar to the Aster-Yellows phytoplasm. By looking at papers on Aster-Yellows control I found that a primary vector in the US is a early spring leafhopper, Macrosteles fascifrons.

one can find that many different Macrosteles feed on C. occidentalis.

So in 20 min I have a reasonable start as to how we might control phytoplasmic decline in specimen hackberries; soil management, watering, and systemic insect control.

Though it was too early to have a beer.