The NY Times has an article about the larix, a tree indigenous to the White Mountains in New Hampshire and other similar locations. They note:
At least, it did. Since the late 2000s, about a quarter of Britain’s larch trees have been infected by Phytophthora (Greek for ‘plant-destroyer’) ramorum, a fungal-like pathogen that spreads via wind-blown spores and water in the soil. “Ramorum is so beautifully good at killing larch effectively,” Dr. Heather Dun, a scientist from Forest Research in Scotland who is studying the pathogen, told me. In the United States, it’s known as “sudden oak death,” targeting native trees like coast live oak and tanoak.
The NH larix is a hardy tree if you grow it at 1,000 ft above sea level where the frost line in winter exceeds 1 foot! And the soil is very sandy. I tried one in New Jersey in clay soil and a frost line at best a few inches. No luck.
Trees need certain soil, certain moisture levels, and certain temperatures. My ginkgo loves clay soil in NJ but hates sandy soil in NH. My white pines are weeds in NH but struggle in NJ.
Trees are very sensitive to location. White birch hate NJ but love NH. The list goes on.
Now for diseases, they all too often result from some one bringing it into the region or country out of gross ignorance! Put it in their garden, wind blows and devastation occurs.
Isolating the killing factors is complex but usually no single cause is present.
Posts
