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What Caused the Mysterious Argyle Tree?

Posted July 27th, 2009 by James

OSU, as Oregon’s premiere research university, gets a ton of strange questions. Here is a question submitted to our Department of Forestry then written about by John Howard for the Examiner.

What was odd about this particular snag was the strange pattern on its exterior. From ground level to as far as the eye could see upwards, the tree had a regular, repeating diamond pattern that looked for all the world like argyle. It was as if the snag were wearing a head-to-toe argyle stocking!

Close inspection showed that the diamond patterned lines on the dead tree trunk were ridges, not indentions. The diamonds measured about six inches across, and the pattern continued around the entire 40-inch circumference of the trunk.

Photo by John Howard

Photo by John Howard

This one has even stumped the researchers at North America’s number one College of Forestry. What do you think caused the Argyle Tree phenomenon?

-jm

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Faculty, Misc., Research, Sustainablility. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Responses to “What Caused the Mysterious Argyle Tree?”

  1. IWEBIX Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 4:39 am

    I have never seen a tree like that before! This is mysterious!

  2. Mahmud Says:
    July 28th, 2009 at 10:45 am

    In Indonesia, it’s no strange tree, I have seen some trees like this. I found the trees like this when I was in Kalimantan.

  3. Dr. Jessie Voigts Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    This is so cool. My father has a degree in Forestry – I’ll send him here, too! I would love to find out why it is marked thusly.

  4. Caution Tape Says:
    August 2nd, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    Really this is pretty amazing how or what type of tree is this?

  5. Protaras Apartment Rentals Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 11:09 am

    Never seen anything like it.

  6. Mightyline tape Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 4:20 pm

    Really I would love to see on up close!

  7. cdawson Says:
    August 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 am

    lol…that is kind of weird…mysterious!

  8. Juegos Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 10:35 pm

    Never seen such a tree, looks like ice or a frozen tree.

  9. Mike Says:
    September 4th, 2009 at 6:03 am

    Nature is so powerful that it keeps me dreaming and thinking that we should respect it more for our kids and future generations.

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