Root rot in my tree... I think

[nimdabew]

I was walking by one of.my trees in my front yard and saw this stuff at the base. I am unsure how long it has been there, but the stuff is wet to the touch, is about the size of two soft balls, and has bugs crawling in it (potato bugs and some ear wigs). What is it? Neighbor said root rot, but I wanted to ask the collective so I can sound semi intelligent when I start asking about it to try and fix it.

The tree is a golden curl Willow I think, but I didn't plant it. I will get a picture of it, but it looks fully mature at about 30 feet high with branches hanging down. Anyways, here is the picture of the rot. Let me know what you think.

https://i.imgur.com/p3BpJLs.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5KHkbxC.jpg

[AKDoug]

Slime flux disease I think. Haven't seen it in a willow, but it looks similar to what I've seen in other trees. https://www.thoughtco.com/prevention-control-of-tree-slime-flux-1342887

[tb-av]

Never seen or heard of that before. We get 80-90ft oaks that get hollowed out by bugs and sometimes you see some 'different looking' bark. They go down in the wind storms in the summer. I've had several tree people at my place over the years. It's amazing what they can tell you just with a quick walk around. The Arborist<sp> especially because they typically are not looking to cut something down. I've never seen anything you can scoop out of a tree like that.

[nimdabew]

I talked to an arborist. The tree is a Siberian Elm and the stuff coming out is slime flux. He said it was totally normal and natural for the tree and that it happens a lot. I just need to keep an eye on it so it doesn't cause any damage to the roots themselves, but he said not to worry about it too much and keep an eye on it over the next few years.

[jpmuscle]

As usual nature is a always fascinating


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