Trees Struck by Lightning 205 



of the district contains much iron, and may perhaps be at- 

 tractive to electric-laden clouds. 



In a copse at Combeswell there stands an oak of about three 

 feet in girth, the central trunk of which is in a condition of 

 touchwood. On one side there is a long gaping slit seven 

 inches wide, which exposes the contained dead trunk, but on 

 the other two-thirds the bark is sound and the tree as a whole 

 is living. At the margins of the slit the bark and recently 

 formed wood curl inwards on themselves. There is a very 

 narrow scar on the opposite side, which has closed in. The 

 suggestion in this instance is that the tree was severely struck 

 by lightning some years ago, that its bark was extensively 

 detached, and that on the side where the gap now is it was 

 torn up, whilst the wood of the bole was so much damaged 

 that much of it died. The death, however, did not involve 

 quite the whole trunk. The bark and a layer of wood on 

 the side opposite the present gap remained alive and con- 

 tinued afterwards to form new wood and to push forwards, 

 enclosing the dead portion and partially bridging over the gap. 



It is evident in this instance that the flash struck a branch, 

 and not the top of the tree. The branch enters about twelve 

 feet from the ground, and at this point the damage begins. The 

 upper part of the tree is uninjured. The branch is still pre- 

 sent, quite dead, of course, and several branches near it are 

 also dead, killed, no doubt, by scorching. 



Another oak in a copse not far from the tree above 

 described shows a long straight furrow down its bole. The 

 furrow is an inch or more deep, and begins where a dead 

 branch enters about twelve feet from the ground, and ends 

 abruptly six inches from it. The bark has healed over the 

 furrow, but on each side its edges are curled in, as has been 

 described above. No doubt the lightning entered by the 

 branch and ran down in the cambium layer, stripping up the 

 bark, but not injuring the bole deeply. Probably the injury 

 occurred in spring when cambium sap was abundant. 



In a plantation near Haselhurst stand in a triangle three 

 16 



