r/australianplants • u/Mountain_Text_3172 • 3d ago
Do I have a sick Gumtree?
The tree is shedding lots of very thick bark and plenty of dead small branches are falling.
I've included a pic of some of the recent bark it has shed, which is thicker than my thumb.
There are also deep cracks up the trunk from almost ground level and then the lowest limb has some kind of deep rot with fungus in it.
I'm unsure what type of gum it is, but it's not a smooth bark variant I'm pretty sure. Keen for some opinions 🙏🏼
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u/citationstillneeded 3d ago
We would need some photos of leaves, gumnuts, and/or flower buds to identify your tree positively. To me it looks like maybe a Blake's Redgum / Eucalyptus blakelyi, or maybe E. tereticornis. Again, guessing.
The bark shedding and cracking is of no concern - normal. Small deadwood also normal and no concern.
You do have some decay and a bracket fungus, probably Phellinus or Ganoderma spp. which is more concerning. I think the tree looks vigorous enough that you could expect to retain it for another 10-20 years at least, unless it declines further.
Don't take advice online, hire a consulting arborist to have a look at it and maybe climb the tree if you're worried. I think do nothing is still probably the best approach though.