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When 2saplings inosculate, do they form a single or double core?
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Posted by njbiology Zone 7(/6b); NJ (My Page) on Wed, Apr 1, 09 at 22:22
| Hi,
In nature, when two tree seedlings form two saplings only around 6" apart from eachother, when the two saplings individually grow to a trunk diameter of 3" and friction causes the thin bark to wear away between them and result in their eventually fusing, do the two trunks become a single trunk with a single core (whereby the two cores move into eachother to form a single core) at the base portion or... do the two trunks become a single trunk with two still-separate cores at the base portion?
I will be planting 4 bare-root American persimmon saplings (of various cultivars) 6" apart from one another in a box-formation, hoping that they form a single unified trunk, but I'm afraid that if I do not plant them close enough that they won't fuse (except at the very base) - whereas I want a solid trunk before they divert 4 ways; and I'm concerned that if they are too far apart, they will have grown too large and never fuse, repelling or diverting at a sharp angle. I would like to think that 6" apart is the ideal distance, enabling just enough space for them to develope separate cores that will unite. This is poorly worded... for some reason, I think that I can plant them 1" apart, but then they WILL form one trunk but that doesn't guarantee 4 separate main trunks from one: it will form a single trunk the whole way. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: When 2saplings inosculate, do they form a single or double co
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- Posted by brandon7 6b (like 7b now) TN (My Page) on
Fri, Apr 3, 09 at 12:06
| I think it would be very unusual for two trunks to fuse (inosculate) other than at one small area. The bark must be rubbed away for the cambium layers to meet and grow together. This is unlikely to occur naturally at more than a point and very unlikely to occur at the base of the trees. When it occurs, it's usually where two branches are in constant contact and blown by wind to remove the bark. In situations where two tree trunks are growing side by side, normally, they don't every truly fuse. Even if they look as if they do, when cut, the trunks are not fused. Very often, when two trunks meet in this way, rot will occur and sometimes will be the cause of premature tree death. |
RE: When 2saplings inosculate, do they form a single or double co
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| Hi Brandon, That is very disappointing: that the rot will occur and sometimes will be the cause of premature tree death. In nature, I've seen enormous threes that seem to survive this natural arrangement, or maybe I'm not interpreting the observation correctly: there are 4+ large trunks that are growing so closely that, for the first few feet, the run in parallel contact with one another; maybe they are not 4 separate trees (of the same species and size) but 4 separate suckers coming from the same root system. Maybe a way out of this issue is to get this to happen early on: to arrange the 4 saplings (that are of 1" diameters or so) only 2" apart from each other; to me, it would seem that this would have to cause a single solid tree trunk of the 4. I hope I can figure this out soon, because the saplings are on their way in the mail and are bare root. Thanks,
Steve |
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