Young, diseased noni (Morinda citrifolia) plant removed from a field. The roots are galled and rotting and the stem is girdled near the base. The plant was infected with root-knot nematodes and a plant-pathogenic fungus, Sclerotium rolfsii. |
 Diseased noni (Morinda citrifolia) plant. The roots are galled and rotting and the stem is girdled near the base. The plant was infected with root-knot nematodes and died from the effects of girdling. |
 Basal stem rot, vascular necrosis, and girlding of a noni (Morinda citrifolia) plant. The roots are galled and rotting and the stem is girdled near the base. The plant was infected with root-knot nematodes and a plant-pathogenic fungus, Sclerotium rolfsii. |
To girdle is to circle and cut through a stem or the bark and outer few rings of wood, disrupting the phloem and xylem.
Etymology. O.E. gyrdel "belt, sash, cord about the waist," common Gmc. (cf. O.N. gyršill, O.Fris. gerdel, Ger. gürtel "belt"), related to O.E. gyrdan "to gird" (see gird). Modern euphemistic sense of "elastic corset" first recorded 1925.