![]() ![]() The bacteria enter through open wounds in the bark. Slime flux (wetwood) is a bacterial fermentation of tree tissue, resulting in the disagreeable odor associated with this problem. In the latter case, the slime runs down the bark, discoloring plant tissues and resulting in a build-up of dry scum. In other cases, as with elm and cottonwood, infection results in wet gray to brown areas on limbs and trunk. In some trees, particularly willow, this disease results in a white to gray foam that bubbles out from under the bark. Other trees and shrubs: slime flux and a similar phenomenon called bacterial wetwood are also found quite frequently on the stems of a wide range of trees and shrubs. The biology is similar to that of clematis slime flux, although it is thought that in trees the bacteria most usually colonise the plant through the roots. Weeping and fluxing from patches on the trunk is often the only symptom, but branch dieback may occur.Slime flux, often called bacterial wet-wood, is a bacterial disease found in many different types of trees. The bacteria penetrate deep into the stem tissues, and when the sugary sap rises in spring this is fermented by the bacteria to produce the foul-smelling slime. Gasses are also produced which force the slime out under pressure and may result in further stem splitting. A range of bacterial species, as well as other organisms such as yeasts and fungi, are often found within the slime, all taking advantage of the sugars within the sap. ![]()
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