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Hackberry tree with witches brooms W. Cranshaw, Bugwood.org |
As you look up at the trees this spring, watching for emerging buds or perhaps a returning song bird, you might notice many small clumps of short twigs scattered through the branches of some hackberry trees (Celtis occidentalis). These clumps of twigs are called witches' brooms.
Although witches' brooms are present within the trees canopy throughout the year, they are most easily observed in the winter or early spring, before leaves emerge. Hackberry trees growing in open areas, like a yard or along a street, are more likely to have witches' brooms than hackberry trees in a forest. Often one hackberry tree will have many witches' brooms while its near neighbors have none.
Witches' brooms occur when the bud of the tree is injured or infected. Normally, a healthy bud opens to produce one shoot. However, when a bud is damaged or killed, multiple weak shoots may develop from the same point on the branch. Witches' brooms in trees can be caused by a variety of problems. Trees growing alongside roads where salt is applied in the winter may have buds damaged or killed by splashing salt. In some cases, infection of the tree by a fungus, a phytoplasma or even a parasitic plant like mistletoe can cause witches' brooms to form within the tree's canopy.
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Witches broom on hackberry tree, up close W. Cranshaw, Bugwood.org |
How these two pests interact with the hackberry tree is uncertain. One theory suggests that the eriophyid mite causes the witches' broom to form and the powdery mildew fungus takes advantage of the weakened plant and starts an infection secondarily. It is clear that hackberry witches' broom causes little damage to the health of the tree. Trees with numerous witches' brooms have been found to grow vigorously for years.
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Several hackberry witches brooms, up close Jeff Hahn |
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