Hole in bark ...

[Juliet]

... of one of the stems of my amelanchier with orangey stuff coming out of it!   :(  ??? Help! - any ideas what it might be?  The hole's about a foot from the ground, very small (insect sized) & the stuff coming out of it is not sap (unless it's sap which has been chewed up, partly digested, & thrown up by an insect!) - it's sort of damp & mushy, like a tiny pool of vomit (sorry) or very small insect eggs.  Doesn't look anything like a canker or anything obvious - have googled for ideas & the only thing I can find which looks anything like it is a hole made by a Canadian beetle, which seems an extremely unlikely candidate as I'm in Cambridge!

[Juliet]

[William O]

Are you sure it isn't some type of slimeflux?

[Juliet]

No, not at all sure, especially as I'd never heard of it until you mentioned it  ::) !!  Did a google image search & the evidence is definitely ... inconclusive.  Hmm.  The slimey stuff could be as described - hard to tell as I couldn't find any close up pictures of that.  The hole in the stem doesn't look as though it's just a crack though - it's a bit too circular to be random.  There are also buds further up the stem which suggests to me that the problem's not quite that serious ... though it may just not have got that far yet.  Have scraped off the orange stuff & binned it & will see what happens - if it comes back/gets worse I guess I should cut the stem out below the hole just in case  :(

[AikenDrum]

Apropos nothing really, but the local environmental chappies/lassies at your local County/Borough council love little challenges like this. Their life is pretty boring after all. Give them a ring and arrange for them to pick up a sample. I will make their day !  Believe me.    {:¬)#

[AikenDrum]

rofl  ......  < ... with the ocassional *hic*

[AikenDrum]

pmsl  .....