OSU Admissions Blog » Examiner http://oregonstate.edu/admissions/blog The blog of Oregon State University's Office of Admissions Fri, 24 May 2013 18:46:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 What Caused the Mysterious Argyle Tree? http://oregonstate.edu/admissions/blog/2009/07/27/what-caused-the-argyle-tree/ http://oregonstate.edu/admissions/blog/2009/07/27/what-caused-the-argyle-tree/#comments Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:33:34 +0000 Blake http://oregonstate.edu/admissions/blog/?p=1581 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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