injury to bark tissues on the trunk and branches caused by rapid changes in temperature. especially on warm days and cool nights in winter (contrast with scorch).

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
sunscald (noun)
an injury of woody plants (as fruit or forest trees) characterized by localized death of the tissues and sometimes by cankers and caused when it occurs in the summer by the combined action of both the heat and light of the sun and in the winter by the combined action of sun and low temperature to produce freezing of bark and underlying tissues
sunscald (Wikipedia)
Sun scald on Sitka spruce

Sun scald is the freezing of bark following high temperatures in the winter season, resulting in permanent visible damage to bark. Fruits may also be damaged. In the northern hemisphere, it is also called southwest injury.

« Back to Glossary Index