According to Sam and Jim Commenting on things that irk us off, make us laugh out loud or just seem too weird too believe According to Sam and Jim: Scientifically, I could fall apart

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Scientifically, I could fall apart

OMG! I think I have laminated root rot. When Sam and I were camping this past week we came across a few areas of Millersylvania State Park (south of Olympia) that were closed because of laminated root rot, which I shall henceforth refer to as LRR.

LRR is a disease that generally occurs in Douglas fir, grand fir and hemlock trees. LRR is considered to be the most damaging root disease in the Pacific Northwest. Trouble is, I’ve cozyed up a little too close to some trees in my day (looking for Ralph, taking a whiz, etc.). I’ve used Doug fir and hemlock extensively for building projects too.

There’s another form of LRR that causes butt rot of western red cedar. I sincerely hope I don’t have that! Supposedly, the western red cedar butt rot has only been identified on the east side of the Cascades, but the disease is spread by root contact between a healthy and infected individual. I know I’ve touched some red cedars. So, what good does it do to wipe toilet seats carefully before you use them? Don’t bother if you go out in the woods much.

LRR kills susceptible trees by either predisposing them to windthrow (uprooting in a hard wind, which I also have done), rotting the major roots, or by destroying their ability to take up water and nutrients. Sam and I need our water and nutrients – donuts being essential nutrients.

LRR is a predisposing agent for attacks by nasty critters like the longicorn beetle , aka piesarthrius laminosis. In fact, several types of beetles are serious pests by, with the larvae boring into wood, where they can cause extensive damage to either living trees or untreated lumber. Ooo. Ick. I hate bugs.

On the west side of Oregon and Washington, LRR reportedly causes annual losses of 32 million cubic feet of wood; east side damages could be equally high. According to those in the know, the incidence of LRR has probably increased substantially with the suppression of fire and subsequent species shift to Douglas-fir/grand fir forests, as these trees are highly susceptible to LRR. And if the beetles don’t kill our trees, little moth worms will. Help! All this scientific information is driving me buggy.

Strangely enough, if you look up the word laminate, you find that laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination. So root rot must somehow de-laminate. De-laminating can lead to divorce. I’ve seen a lot of marriages rot and de-laminate.

A cousin of laminate and laminated and lamination and all those other “L” words could be equine laminitis, a vascular disease within the laminae of a horse’s hoof. In advanced laminitis, the horse’s coffin bone becomes detached from the hoof’s horny wall and may rotate or sink or “founder.”

Haven’t you learned a lot today? Aren’t you glad you read this blog? Just goes to show you what a few days in the woods without donuts, listening to nothing but the quiet, and taking your dog for lots of walks so he won’t drive you crazy can do to – er, for – you.

No comments:

Post a Comment