Forest Health and Tree Disorders Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering tree diseases, insect pests, and abiotic forest damage presented in the lecture materials.

Aphid

A small, soft-bodied sap-sucking insect that feeds on plant juices, often congregating on stems and the undersides of leaves.

Scale

A small, sap-feeding insect that covers itself with a protective shell-like or waxy coating while anchored to plant bark or foliage.

Gypsy Moth

A destructive forest insect whose caterpillar phase features distinctive tufts of hair along its body and characteristic pairs of blue and red spots along its back.

Southern Pine Beetle

A small, reddish-brown to black bark beetle measuring around 5 millimeters that bores into pine trees and constructs winding galleries under the bark.

Pine Webworm

A pine-feeding caterpillar pest that constructs silken webbing and frass tubes among needles while defoliating host trees.

Leafminer

An insect whose larval stage feeds within the inner layers of plant leaves, creating visible trails, mines, or blotches.

Chestnut Blight

A fungal disease caused by Cryphonectria parasitica that forms swollen or sunken reddish-brown bark lesions and cankers on chestnut trunks.

Spider Mite

A tiny, eight-legged arachnid pest that pierces leaf cells to feed on plant sap, often producing fine silken webbing on host foliage.

Cicada

A large sap-feeding insect known for its prominent compound eyes, transparent wings, and loud calls, which can cause oviposition damage to tree twigs.

Leaf Spot

A symptom of plant disease or stress characterized by discrete discolored, dark, or necrotic spots on leaf foliage.

Wood Borer

An insect larva or adult beetle that bores into the wood or inner bark of woody plants, weakening tree structure.

Wildlife/Livestock Damage

Physical injury caused to trees or woody plants by animals, such as bark stripping or browsing by livestock and wild animals.

Needle Cast

A fungal disease affecting conifers that causes needles to turn brown, die, and shed prematurely.

Sawfly

A group of insects whose caterpillar-like larvae feed gregariously on plant leaves or conifer needles, causing heavy defoliation.

Air Pollution

Abiotic plant injury resulting from airborne toxic chemicals or gases, leading to foliage discoloration, necrosis, or stunted growth.

Canker

A localized, dead area of bark and cambium on woody trunks or branches, often surrounding an open lesion.

Damping Off

A disease affecting young seedlings caused by soil fungi that rot the stem base and roots, leading to plant collapse.

Mistletoe

A parasitic or hemiparasitic evergreen plant that grows attached to tree branches, absorbing water and nutrients from its host.

Slime Flux

A condition in trees caused by bacterial infection in internal wood, resulting in fermenting, foul-smelling sap bleeding from bark wounds.

Chemical Damage

Injury to plants caused by toxic chemical exposure such as herbicides, de-icing salt, or industrial runoff.

Tent Caterpillar

A caterpillar species that constructs prominent silken web nests in tree crotches while defoliating host branches.

Mechanical Damage

Physical harm inflicted on trees or plants by equipment, machinery, or human activities.

Mimosa Wilt

A vascular fungal disease affecting mimosa trees that leads to leaf yellowing, wilting, branch dieback, and plant death.

Anthracnose

A group of fungal diseases causing irregular necrotic spots, blotches, and leaf blights on hardwood foliage and twigs.

Fire Damage

Injury or death to trees and shrubs caused by fire, leading to bark charring, cambium injury, and foliar scorching.

Climatic Injury

Plant injury resulting from extreme abiotic weather events such as frost, freeze, heat, or severe drought.

Nematode

Microscopic roundworms that live in soil or plant tissues and feed on plant roots, impairing water and nutrient absorption.

Rust

A plant disease caused by obligate fungal parasites, characterized by bright orange, yellow, or brown powdery spore pustules on leaves or stems.

Lightning Damage

Physical injury to trees caused by direct electrical strike, often resulting in bark stripping, wood cracking, and sudden wilt.

Butt or Heart Rot

Internal wood decay affecting the lower trunk (butt) or central heartwood of living trees, reducing structural integrity.