Truncated trunk

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by valleyforge

I think the explanation might be a whole lot simpler ...

I suspect that this is the topmost section of a wind-snapped birch tree that hasn't touched down because it has just become entangled and supported by a neighbouring tree (or it may even be the top part of the tree that's now supporting it).

If the birch had been in leaf then a significant gale could have carried it several feet sideways ... the remaining trunk, the top of which would have been somewhat higher than the base of this remnant, will no doubt be nearby, although it may too have toppled and be now hidden by the undergrowth.

Yes that must be it. On first looking at picture I thought I was seeing a bole stripped of bark - rather than a separated limb hanging in mid air. In fact the limb appears to be supported by deer fencing which is giving it the suspended appearance.

CM

[treecreeper]

Originally Posted by Cotham Marble

Yes that must be it. On first looking at picture I thought I was seeing a bole stripped of bark - rather than a separated limb hanging in mid air. In fact the limb appears to be supported by deer fencing which is giving it the suspended appearance.

CM

I'm sure there wasn't any fencing, the thing was hanging in mid air

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by treecreeper

I'm sure there wasn't any fencing, the thing was hanging in mid air

For what its worth - check the photo at full zoom > then look for the largest of the three Birch polypores - the one on the far left of the trunk > look at the top of that polypore and there's a strand of wire running tangential to it, which looks to me like the top line of a deer fence. But perhaps the wire is set back from the detached limb and the limb is merely wedged onto branches of surrounding trees ?

CM

[treecreeper]

Well spotted CM! I might be able to get back to the site on Saturday and take a closer look

[treecreeper]

I went back today to have a closer look, scorning the nettles. The tree is in fact precariously suspended from an oak and some distance from the wire spotted by Cotham Marble. You only need one finger to make it rock by a pendulum. I think a stiff breeze would bring it down.




Middle of the next photo is the projected foot of the tree. No trace whatever of a birch trunk (although part of a large snapped-off branch is visible on the right).



Last photo is the wood. It is friable and easily pulled off in lumps.



I think this supports Valleyforge's interpretation. The tree was weakened by birch brackets to the point where a strong wind snapped it and carried away the top part which became entangled in another tree. A testimony to the destructive power of Piptoporus betulinus and the raw power of the elements.

I searched for evidence of the base but found nothing....but there was a bank of nettles nearby I didn't fancy exploring.