This japanese maple died in my yard, and the limbs of the tree have been falling off. I noticed a fungus on the outside of the bark, but also insect galleries underneath. How did it die?
Japanese maple disease?
The fungus you see is the type that moves in after the tree (or at least the part they live in) is already dead. The fungus did not kill the tree.
I am not sure about the insect galleries, though. Boring and girdling insects can certainly kill a tree. Sometimes the tree has already been compromised by some disease, perhaps Verticillium. It is hard to say, without more proof.
Can you make a clean cut across the trunk? See if the wood is different colors. Not in rings which are typical of all trees, but a section like a piece of pie. This would be a suggestion of a fungus or other disease that could have killed the tree. You can try this on some of the younger branches, perhaps 2-3 years old, too.
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