Sphaeroblast Carving 3 Jan 18th 2009

The third post in regards to the sphaeroblasts.

I went walking near to Coopers Hill, Gloucestershire in the beech woods today with my wife, the boys and Ziggi my dog.

The following photos show sphaeroblasts on the tree pre and post harvesting. hopefully this will give you a good idea of what I am talking about. At the end I have added a picture of an ‘Echte Kropfe’ (True Swelling) which as you will see is totally different.

This picture shows six beech tree sphaeroblasts.

The two pictures here show pre and post harvest. the harvested sphaeroblast shows that the sphaeroblasts sit within the bark and are not attached to the trees main stem. A sphaeroblast should come away with a gentle tap. the bark hasn't been completely removed so disease doesn't get to the main stem of the tree. within a week or so there will be little evidence the sphaeroblast has been removed.

This shows clearly how far from the trunk they protrude. That a tree can produce a small nodule of wood within its own bark is quite remarkable.

These are quite large and the one I am pointing at is about 2inches in diameter. another carving on the way with this fellow. in my hand you will see some other quite large specimens already harvested. The larger ones seem to be at the base of the tree.

The days harvest. the 10p gives you some sense of scale.

This nose like swelling is not a sphaeroblast but a ‘Echte Kropfe’ (True Swelling). as stated in the first post on sphaeroblasts, to remove this would damage the tree (Not good). these sorts of swellings show how the legend of the woodwose came to life. in dappled light that swelling could be the nose of a woodwose.