Hollow tree

[John Brown]

I came across this tree while walking the dog. Personally, I've not seen anything like this before, and I didn't find any similar pictures on the web, although I guess it's not that unusual. As you can see, the branch roots(knots?) have been largely untouched by whatever has eaten away the rest of the trunk.

 

[bodge]

Perhaps not unusual, but stuff like this fascinates me. Nature is a fantatsic thing.
Thanks for sharing the pic John.

 

[MIGNAL]

I think trees tend to rot from the inside. About 10 years ago a mature Whitebeam was downed in our local park after some very strong winds. The base of trunk, up to about 2 metres, was still in the soil and perfectly intact. From there upwards the rest of the tree had sheared right off but you could plainly see that the core of the tree had rotted away. Probably why it went over in the first place.

 

[DrPhill]

Tree trunks are only alive on the outside. The centre is compact dead tissue used for strength. If rot sets in there is no repair in the centre, but the outside can grow an heal?

 

[Racers]

Here's a Lime tree in Wollaton Park with a rotten core
Fallen Lime Tree by maddpete, on Flickr
And some tell tail signs of rot

Bracket Fungus on a fallen Lime by maddpete, on Flickr


Pete

 

[John Brown]

I used to have a 200 or so year old oak in the garden. It was attacked by Honey Fungus and was completely hollow to a height of 5 or 6 feet. I conjectured that, like most successful parasites, Honey Fungus had evolved to not kill the host.
The main roots were also completely hollow.

What struck me about the pictured I posted was not so much the hollow trunk, but the intact internal branch root structure.

 

[woodfarmer]

The bits that are left I believe used to be referred to as tree nails, much used in building wooden boats. Now you can see why.