Seen a ‘Bubbling Tree’? New York State Environmentalists Explain How It Happens

Where would we be without the internet? How did we survive before computers were invented?  Sure, we had television, movies, schooling and that set of encyclopedias some salesperson conned your parent into buying which ended up being dust collectors.

I love surfing the internet for things to learn and watching videos of some strange things people do. And to start my week off, I had to stop and find out what the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was talking about when I saw the headline "Ever seen a tree blow bubbles?"

Okay, that's a new one, at least for me. I was intrigued, so I checked out just why a tree would be blowing bubbles. It didn't sound like a good thing, but I was wrong.

According to the NYS DEC, they admit the tree is not exactly blowing bubbles, it just looks like it, with a line of bubbles slowly dropping down the tree. The reason? Heavy rains that flow down a tree trunk will collect dust and salt from the bark. It creates soapy suds. The NYS DEC states that it has no effect on a tree.

Also, the NYS DEC Facebook post explains that "bacterial slime flux is caused by bacterial fermentation inside the tree, which builds pressure in the wood through gas production and can leave streaks of fermented sap on the bark of the tree throughout the year. There is no treatment, and when this occurs in a tree that is already stressed or unhealthy, it can lead to more severe issues like leaf wilting and branch dieback."

And the third reason you may see this bubbling effect on a tree could be alcohol flux. That's what happens when a stressed tree leaks sap that is then fermented by microbes. This results in a frothy, fragrant, and fleeting stream of bubbles, according to the NYS DEC.

via New York State Department of Environmental Conservation