cut it out ... it will fill back in.. in tree years ... however long that might take ...

track back down the stem.. and cut just above a fork with live tissue on the other side ..

frankly.. it looks like mechanical damage... meaning someone is grabbing and tugging on your plant ...

speculating now .... have you been pruning it for width ...??? if so.. what are you going to do.. now that it is taller than you can reach???

ken

I have had a few branches like that on my Eastern Red Cedar and Arizona Cypress. When I follow the branch all the way from trunk to tip, usually find where the bark has been chewed off the limb and the foliage finally died as a result. This is normally grasshopper damage done perhaps last fall but just showing up now. Just follow Ken's suggestion and prune.

Also check out info about cypress canker.

ken - I have not pruned the tree at all. It's naturally about 10ft tall and 1 foot wide right now.

scotjute - I do have a tremendous amount of grasshoppers around. There's a bog marsh about 50ft away from the tree.

it just seemed.. that at the top of the pic.. it suddenly started getting wider ... perhaps wind changes up there ...

i dont do IC in z5 MI ... all i know from lots and lots of posts... is they are not a favored plant... rather short lived due to disease [in tree years i mean] ... bug issues [i think] ... and generally falling apart over time...

this is not to say you need to worry about it all right now .. its more about understanding.. on some emotional level.. that it might not be around forever ... so that when the time comes.. you can have an easier time getting rid of it ...

just keep in mind.. it isnt worth spending a hundred dollars on remedies.. to save a plant ... that might be replaced for $15 .... IF IT EVER COME TO THAT ... this is about the future.. not pruning out this branch ...

good luck

ken