Jelly-like substance on base of purple sand cherry

[ironliver316]

Can anybody help me get to the bottom of this. I just checked on a sand cherry I have in a wood box and I noticed two things. First, there was a big blob of amber goop on the base of the trunk. Like the size of a ping pong ball big. At first I thought it was sap, but it wasn't sticky at all. It looked exactly like the gel you see in the bottom of the pan after you cook a ham. Then on the other side, a little bit below the soil line, there was a substance that looked like strawberry jam. Kind of red with white "seed" looking things all in it. In my panic to figure out a cause, I started wiping the stuff away before taking pics, but I did get some decent shots.

 

[Firstflush]

Looks like gummosis.

 

[Shibui]

I'm not familiar with sand cherry but most other cherries are susceptible to gummosis which looks exactly like this. Gummosis is a number of different bacterial infections that usually enter the tissue through a damaged area. It can spread through the tree but sometimes healthy trees will compartmentalize and seal off the infection to stop it spreading.
As far as I know there is no treatment other than amputation of an affected branch - not something you can do with this one!
Just cross fingers and hope.....

 

[cbroad]

I've seen it on mine before. It's been a couple years since I've last seen it, but it's still alive.