The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) told The Macau Post Daily by phone yesterday that a Cinnamomum burmannii (commonly known as Padang cassia) tree infected with root rot has been removed from the city’s main square, Largo do Senado, as its health was deteriorating in spite of efforts to save it through a raft of treatments.
In order to reduce the risk to public safety, the bureau said, IAM arborists have meanwhile cut off the tree’s crown, branches and most of the trunk, adding that the stump will be removed at a later time.
According to the bureau, the arborists had immediately carried out a shew of treatments on the tree after discovering during a routine review in 2020 that its leaves at the top of the crown and upper most branches had turned slightly yellow and withered. The bureau added that Ganoderma fungi had been growing at the Padang cassia’s base, which changed the colour of the tree’s bark, causing grid-like cracks, which confirmed that it had been infected with root rot.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Ganoderma fungi, which grow from the base of tree trunks or on exposed roots, can be either annuals or perennials and are fairly large with a generally tough bracketlike pileus – the cap of a mushroom – that can reach more than 60 centimetres in diameter, adding that Ganoderma fungi employ a number of enzymes to degrade lignin and cellulose in their hosts, thus breaking down the wood and causing a bleached appearance.
The bureau said the Padang cassia’s condition had deteriorated sharply since this summer, with its new leaves continuing to turn yellow, small branches withering one by one and the fungus continuing to emerge, adding that the arborists recently discovered that half of its crown had no leaves and that its branches were weak.
The tree was popular with residents and tourists alike looking for shadow.
This photo taken last Tuesday shows the ailing Cinnamomum burmannii tree, aka Padang cassia, in the city’s main square, Largo do Senado.
– Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
This photo taken yesterday shows Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) staff working near the area from which the tree had recently been removed. – Photo: MPDG
