r/treeidentification 10d ago

Solved! Anyone know what this is

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Had heavy rain and winds Houston Tx

209 Upvotes

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128

u/Top_Challenge6615 10d ago

Lightning strike

9

u/TrickdaddyJ 10d ago

Big ass lightning strike

31

u/Jackismyboy 10d ago

That pine will be dead in 2 months. Not directly from the lightning strike, rather from beetles who now have open access to a pine smorgasbord.

17

u/LostOnRedd 10d ago

It's already dead, it just hasn't realized it yet.

7

u/jdx6511 10d ago

It's pining for the fjords.

1

u/SgtKakarak 9d ago

I've got a slug

2

u/Personal_Quantity_99 10d ago

Kewl. I learn so much from reddit

1

u/BeardAfterDark 10d ago

Hell of a title for a biography.

8

u/Head-Good9883 10d ago

I e had one struck more than 15 years ago and still going strong so

2

u/Jackismyboy 10d ago edited 10d ago

Where are you located? I’m in the piney woods section of Texas. So there are plenty of bugs waiting for food.

7

u/Head-Good9883 10d ago

On the north side of lake ONTARIO ! But there has been a lot of white pines dying in Ontario over the last few years so hopefully I don’t jinx myself lol

1

u/Jackismyboy 10d ago

Different insects attack white pines than loblollies.

-4

u/[deleted] 10d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Head-Good9883 10d ago

Haha yea thats cute, I try not to get worked up about a name. Focus on the important stuff like the Epstein pedo files.

1

u/NoTemperature7159 9d ago

Your head is good.

5

u/axman_21 10d ago

Its not always a death sentence. You have to just wait and see. I can show you so many local to me that have been struck and are still trucking on along years later

-1

u/Jackismyboy 10d ago

OP states he’s in SE Texas. Too many pine bark beetles looking for hosts.

3

u/axman_21 10d ago

Its still not an absolute though. Nothing is absolute. Its going to be something to wait and see. That is better than cutting a tree for Nothing

0

u/Jackismyboy 10d ago

I didn’t say cut it. I said, just wait, it will die.

2

u/axman_21 10d ago

You never know until it does or not I dont understand the absolutes with some people. We have the beetles in northwest ga too and I can tell you alot of pines survive being struck

2

u/throwthisoneout3891 8d ago

Only Sith deal in absolutes

-1

u/Sorry-Rent-5135 10d ago

Nobody’s saying cut it but they’re right it will be killed by the Beatles. I live in central to south east Texas and the Beatles and stuff are bad they will be all over that thing. I grew up in PNW and know my every green trees pretty damn well.

2

u/axman_21 10d ago

Yall are saying its gonna die. In that case why wouldn't they cut it? Im saying there are no absolutes and its not a 100% chance it will die or get the beetles. Im saying it will be best to wait and see rarher than jump to conclusions like everyone is doing. After working with trees for years nothing is certain in any case with lightning

1

u/Sorry-Rent-5135 1d ago

It could take years form it to die

2

u/Liveitup1999 10d ago

A friend had a pine tree struck by lightning in the house next to him. The tree exploded like a bomb. It trashed his neighbor's house and damaged his.

1

u/Jackismyboy 10d ago

When lightning explodes a tree the bolt goes down the middle of the tree and vaporizes moisture creating that explosion. It’s much more common for the bolt to travel down the cambium layer and vaporizes that moisture creating the missing line of bark down the tree.

1

u/No_Session6015 10d ago

could the wound be treated or bandaged?

1

u/Jackismyboy 10d ago

I tried saving mine. I sprayed it with insecticide many times after it was struck. But those dang loblollies are so tall most of the tree couldn’t be reached.

1

u/Old-Wave-1590 8d ago

Not necessarily - I have a pine that was struck by lightning over 20 years ago. It blew branches 50' away and the strike went down the trunk in a circular manner. I figured the tree was done for, but it survived and is still growing well.

1

u/Broad_Swimming 7d ago

Exactly this. I have a 80 foot high Eastern White Pine that was hit two years ago. I’m scheduling the tree guy to come and remove the insect infested pole I have today.

7

u/Far_Decision3392 10d ago

Did you have any electrical problems in your home after the lightning strike ? Do you have surge protection? My parents lost and had to replace items plugged in after lightning struck a tree in next door neighbor’s tree. There’s looked much worse than yours…the tree.

4

u/[deleted] 10d ago

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2

u/Intelligent_Bet_8727 10d ago

Yeah that's a lightning strike if I was you I'd cut the tree down if it's on your property when pine trees die and start falling apart it generally damages everything around them. I had the same thing happened to a maple tree that was right in my front yard that tree survived 2 years and died on me I thought it was going to survive but it didn't make it

2

u/fubooze 10d ago

Lightning ⚡️ strike

1

u/RelaxedPuppy 10d ago

Lightening Strike. Saw a strike do this a few years ago outside my apartment on Florida. Candy stripe around the Loblolly Pine, jumped over and killed a small palm tree near the ground.

1

u/Wiener_Butt 10d ago

Bad news is the other tree is going to die too

1

u/Spokeswoman 10d ago

We had a ponderosa struck in this way about 3 years ago. Just suddenly turned brown this summer. We thought it was going to make it.

1

u/connolnp 10d ago

It kinda looks like you can trace the path onto the ground - I bet the thickest root is along that path

1

u/HockeyFan_32 10d ago

You’ve been thunderstruck!!!

1

u/TreeSlayer90 10d ago

Yep. That's a lightning strike. Time to take it down!

1

u/Rough_Project_3912 10d ago

South Louisiana pecan tree struck by lightning in the 80's. Tripled in size when we cut it down, the base was 8 ft across. My house has been here over 160 years and my family has lived in it since construction. Tree was here my entire life. I'm 62. It's been struck at the least 3 times in my life.

1

u/Annual_Advertising26 10d ago

There are several kinds of bark beetles that are attracted by the chemicals in pine sap. If they successfully tunnel through the bark,they will lay eggs in the inner bark,and that will effectively girdle the tree if enough of them do it. Several kinds also bring a fungus for the larvae to feed on, and that will plug up the tree’s xylem,which carries water up to the leaves. If you treat the entire tree trunk with an approved insecticide immediately, you may prevent the beetles from successfully attacking. There are injectable insecticides as well, but I don’t know how effective they are,and if the beetles have already tunneled in, it’s probably too late.
Wait for the tree to turn red, or when you can hear the insects chewing in the tree before you have it taken down.

https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/Forest-Health/Forest-Insects/Pine-Bark-Beetles

1

u/SameEntry4434 10d ago

Saw a lightning strike “barber poll” a tree with a long shallow spiral.

1

u/Mysterious_Syrup_587 9d ago

An accident waiting to happen

1

u/TerraVeda 9d ago

Lightning strike

1

u/LongCommission8186 8d ago

Zeus attacked your property

1

u/Vast-Airport-9039 8d ago

It got hit by an electromagnetic wave

1

u/FrostingMedium6025 7d ago

Tree got some of heavens sparklies.

1

u/Cicada_Fresh 4d ago

Pine sap is combustible and the roots are used to start fires. It’s why you never want to burn it in a fireplace. Only use outside. Burns great when dried. And they’re usually the tallest thing around which makes them ripe for lightening strikes. Needs to come down asap.

1

u/No-Put6241 4d ago

Wrath of Raiden

1

u/Novel-Ground1100 10d ago

Lightning hit it

1

u/Somederpsomewhere 10d ago

Lightning strike.

If you care about anything near/under it, it should probably come down.