S.O.D, or Sudden Oak Death, caused by the fungus Phytophthora, filled some headlines recently due to the mass de-forestation it has triggered. In an effort to contain the disease that afflicts the common Oak with bleeding cankers and destroys the trunk foundation of Magnolia and Rhododendron alike, Somerset council is also having to fell thousands of it’s native Larch in the Quantock hills.
Since 1848 Larch has been recognized for its potential as a construction material, originally in early housing and ship building, but the onset of Sudden Oak Death has wreaked devastation on the commercial Larch lumber industry. And Somerset is only the most local example. The disease has already had similar effects in the western United States, particularly on the Oak population of California and Oregon. » Read more: SOD Off!
