They are tall. They are sick. All across the woods in North Carolina, the wooly adelgid has been killing the hemlocks and spruces. I wonder how long these trees will be standing.
The hemlock woolly adelgid (/əˈdɛl.dʒɪd/;[1] Adelges tsugae), or HWA, is an insect of the order Hemiptera (true bugs) native to East Asia. It feeds by sucking sap from hemlock and spruce trees (Tsuga spp.; Picea spp.) ...In eastern North America it is a destructive pest that threatens the eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and the Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana). SOURCE: Wikipedia
Visiting Mt. Mitchell, I noted much the same sad state of many majestic trees...though the State Park says a lot of the damage is due to acid rain.
The Monte Vista today...with more of those wonderful tall evergreen trees around it.
...the wooly adelgid is nasty. When I was in the nursery business I bought lots of hemlock from NC!
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to be seeing a population of trees in decline, much as it must have been when the Chestnuts started dying.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to see these tall old trees die, we had some hemlock die here too. Take care, enjoy your weekend!
Yes, definitely sad. Have a great weekend...I anticipate some new photos from a walk or two that you take.
DeleteThere is a hotel in the prompt photo too. Even dead or dying, those old evergreens have a beautiful shape.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy seeing them when they still are green.
DeleteSuch a bummer about that invasive species. It is sad to see trees die off like that.
ReplyDeleteYes, I find it sad to lose a whole species.
DeleteIt took me a moment to figure out the "tuck" into the prompt pic' till I remembered the hotel marquee. Clever! The only other thing I could figure out (I sometimes think in weird ways) was the dead trees could tie into the telephone poles which were once live trees? ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't know, good idea you have there!
DeleteSad to see trees dying.
ReplyDeleteYes, and when you're hiking it isn't as noticeable...thanks to park people probably removing some of the deadfall.
DeleteSo discouraging to hear there is something killing the trees.
ReplyDeleteAt least there are many other varieties.
DeleteHere, Gypsy Moths seem to be doing damage.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know they attacked trees. Too bad.
DeleteWoolly adelgid is indeed a threat to the majestic Eastern hemlock, and you have written a moving blog that highlights the problem. Fortunately, the Western hemlock appears to be immune to the pest and arborists are hard at work trying to figure out a hybrid or some other way of saving these stately conifers.
ReplyDeleteEarlier this spring I noticed the increasing loss of trees in our mountains. The swathes of gray hemlock branches made an ugly contrast to the green leaves on other trees. Some places where large numbers of dead trees have fallen will likely take many decades to recover. But a century ago the great chestnuts succumbed to a similar blight and the forest we see now are its replacement trees.
ReplyDelete