Lots of trees in the great Golden State seem to have Dutch Elm Disease. I said “seem” because I only see them from my automobile window as we are whizzing by on some highway. The trunks are smooth and grayish and they are not palm trees.  Maybe they are elms.  I don’t know — trees are decidedly outside of my scope of practice. When you see a smooth gray tree, a fungus carried by a “bark beetle” has killed the outer bark, which is the living part of a tree that transports nutrients and water to the places that need it: leafy twigs and fruits and such.