I need help identifying the pest that is eating the bark

George3 · Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:57 pm

From Northern California, 50 miles inland. This small tree in the yard (I regret I am not very educated about plant names) is showing a very patterned kind of damage in the bark. I would appreciate help regarding what is causing it and what can be done about it. Thanks.

rainbowgardener · Tue Mar 03, 2015 9:45 am

Yes, my first thought was woodpecker damage. The sapsucker is I believe a variety of woodpecker or closely related.

If you post a picture that shows clear detail of leaves and branches, I bet someone here will be able to tell you what kind of tree you have.

George3 · Tue Mar 03, 2015 5:49 pm

Thanks for the help! A bird, that makes sense. Here are two pictures of the leaves and branches for identification.

rainbowgardener · Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:36 am

interesting. It looks sort of like rhododendron, except I never heard of a rhodie being a big thick-trunked tree like that. Some variety of magnolia? What does it look like when it flowers?

George3 · Wed Mar 04, 2015 3:14 pm

Thanks! Inconspicuous white flowers for a short season.

rainbowgardener · Thu Mar 05, 2015 9:22 am

Inconspicuous flowers is NOT magnolia. Maybe make a new post in the plant ID section?? It is an interesting one.

catgrass · Thu Mar 05, 2015 2:17 pm

Kinda looks like leaves of a Pittosporum (?sp), but I've never seen one that big.

JC's Garden · Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:17 pm

catgrass got it right. Long, long ago, when I was in school, I worked at a nursery that sold Pittosporum to florist. My brother and I would have to go into the Pittosporum fields to harvest, prune and do pest control. That is exactly what they looked like.

George3 · Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:51 pm

Thanks for the identification! Who knows how this Pittosporum got to where it is.