This magnolia has to be at least 60 years old now, I've posted photos of it before, but today I noticed a crack in one of the main trunks and at the very bottom there's gooey stuff oozing out. I'm thinking this isn't good and just might be the beginning of the end for this tree, please tell me I'm wrong. I'm certain it didn't have that crack and oozy stuff until very recently.







Here it is in full bloom in Spring 2023. This year wasn't so spectacular, but we had a bad snowstorm and ice just as the buds were beginning to open, so many of them turned brown before opening. Or maybe it wasn't from the snow and ice.

Nancy @Murky

Sadly, this looks like a canker disease. It may not be fatal but it is certainly damaging. There are many kinds of canker diseases.

The only kind of canker of magnolia that I found on a quick search is nectria canker. There's a link below. This evidently has orange-red fruiting bodies in season.

You may want to consult with your local extension office for help diagnosing it.

Best wishes. I love my magnolias and would be sad to see them attacked like this.

https://www.missouribotanicalg...

Pat

Thanks for that info. That crack concerns me probably more than the seepage. But I think I'm going to get an arborist out to have a look at it.

"...but we had a bad snowstorm and ice just as the buds were beginning to open..."

Make sure you mention this to the arborist. Also, document the temperatures during the period prior to bud opening through the snowstorm and ice.

This type of long vertical cracking can occur when a plant has actively started moving liquids up through its vascular system, and then suddenly experiences temperatures below freezing for a period of time - especially non-native plants from generally milder climes that wouldn't have a natural adaptation to seesawing temperatures.

There were trees on the University of Kentucky campus that our old horticultural professor loved to point out in late winter, when this exact trait would be displayed. He would insert a quarter into the crack in the Water Oak (Quercus nigra) as an object lesson. This cracking never killed the tree - as it exhibited the phase change expansion of liquid to solid which closed after the solid thawed back to liquid - but if there had been significant fluids in the xylem/phloem, it would have leaked out just like your magnolia is doing.

That may not be your answer, but it sure looks like it. Tell us what your arborist thinks.

You might also reach out to the American Magnolia Society - I suspect they have an online presence with many members who love to answer questions like this. There are an abnormal number of them from the frosty winter wastelands of the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan). Gluttons for horticultural punishment...

Thanks for that info, I'll try that first, but will still most likely get an arborist out to be sure. The trunk with the crack is the one leaning towards the front porch.

I have to think this variety is suitable for our hardiness zone, I see plenty around including at botanical gardens close to me. But everything warmed up so early this year, yet there's still always a chance for more snow through April.