Q: I have a row of white pine trees that are turning an olive green color. Two trees in the row died last year. Any suggestions?

A: While white pine in an excellent tree for windbreaks, screenings, and landscape plantings, they do have their share of problems, especially if planted on wet or poorly drained soils. Common is an ailment simply referred to as White Pine Decline. The problem is related to root stress and often associated with an opportunistic root fungus such as procerum or white pine root rot.

In the spring, infected trees may show delayed bud break and shorter needle and twig growth. Mature needles then fade in color, droop, and turn brown. The bark of the branches may appear wrinkled. A keen eye will notice these early symptoms. Affected trees may die within a year after symptoms appear. Others may linger for several years, with mortality occurring seemingly at random. Declining trees may attract boring insects, which will damage inner bark tissues, accelerating the tree’s demise.

White pine decline can affect trees of any age, but are most common on trees 8-25 years of age. Older trees can be affected, but it is less common to have these trees die. White pines prefer slightly acidic, well-drained soils high in organic matter. The heavy clay, more alkaline soils found in much of Indiana are not ideal soils for white pine. Drought, excessive moisture, and soil compaction are additional stress factors that can contribute to decline.

Unfortunately, once these symptoms develop, the tree roots have already been damaged and little can be done to reverse the decline. The best management at this point is to remove the dead trees, since these are attractive to insect borers that may invade adjacent trees. Do not replant white pine back into affected areas. Norway spruce and blue spruce are good alternative evergreens for most areas.

Q:  In our small woodland small creek I found a piece of sandstone about 4” in diameter and a foot long with many strange looking dimples. Is this some sort of fossil?

A: Sounds like you have found the fossil of a Giant Lepidodendron tree! The Lepidodendron is especially well known for its unmistakable scale-like bark. It is often referred to a “Scale-Tree” or “Giant Tree Fern”. I have found several myself over many years of walking forests in the southern half of Indiana – it remains one of my favorite fossils.

These ancient plants were not actually trees, but were very unique types of plants that died out hundreds of millions of years ago. They are related to a group of plants commonly known as clubmosses and could attain heights of 100 feet or even more! They grew at a time when the climate was consistently warm and humid – ideal for the growth of extensive swampy forests. The leaves were clustered near the top and resembled a modern day palm tree. As the leaves were shed they left behind “leaf scars” forming an intricate diamond pattern on the plant’s bark. Those leaf scars are the dimples you noticed on your find.

Interestingly, in the 1800s, petrified trunks of Lepidodendron were sometimes exhibited at fairgrounds as giant fossilized lizards or snakes due to the reptilian look of its imprinted diamond-shaped pattern. Interested in geology? Check out this link about the geology of Indiana’s Turkey Run State Park at http://igs.indiana.edu/Geology/places/SPG5-Turkey-Run.pdf.