Canker
/KANK-er/🦠 Diseases●● Intermediate
A canker is a necrotic lesion on bark tissue caused by pathogenic fungi or bacteria that kill the cambium. Cankers appear as sunken, discolored, or cracked areas on branches and trunks. Some cankers girdle branches, causing dieback above the infection point. Common canker diseases include cytospora canker on spruce, nectria canker on hardwoods, and bacterial canker on stone fruits.
Etymology
From Latin cancer (crab, malignant growth)
Example
“The cytospora canker had girdled the branch, causing all foliage beyond the infection to die.”