They're there. They're certainly tougher to spot.

Dax

Around here brooms are quite common om birch, I have several my self on my property

Here in NH they are common on blue berry bushes. I also have seen them on what we call a Choke Cherry trees.

Fagus sylvatica 'Mercedes' was found as a witches broom. It was found on 'Aspenifolia'

Ginkgos...

I have some maple brooms in the garden. One's an Acer palmatum. I have a couple circinatum brooms as well. They are very nice trees. (Except right now, just a bunch of twigs, LOL).

~Dave

OK.. so they are there ... obviously.. since i have some smallish trees ....

there just isnt the mania of propagating them .... such as with conifers?????

i could really use some mini trees .... [w/o the whole bonsai stuff]

ken

Hi Ken some deciduous brooms for you ...

{{gwi:641395}}

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wbgarden fagus pendula

Jan Slama wbgarden

Here is a link that might be useful: wbgarden

I have tons of them on my place........

But here in the south we just call them BUSHES :-)

mark

On a more serious note though, I'd love to see a Fagus tricolor in a broomed miniature so I could grow it in pots in shaded areas here in the south.

mark

Ginkgos...

Well, technically that's not incorrect. I think what Ken meant was "Why do we see brooms on gymnosperms and not angiosperms?". The distinction between 'conifers' and 'deciduous trees' can be rather vague.

Moot point though, angiosperms do develop them.
I might venture to say that we see genetic (not environmental or organism related) witches brooms less often on angiosperms b/c there is a lower level of growth bud differentiation and they are better at facilitating hormone movement within the plant.

ok.. in ten words or less.. in words a NON-scientist will remember ... what the hell does this mean:

"Why do we see brooms on gymnosperms and not angiosperms?"

first.. which is which.. [trees=angio?]

second ....in ten words... lol .. why is brooming less likely in one than the other ...

if i read that 2nd paragraph correctly ... big presumption there. .. trees are angiosperms .... and there is less bud mutation [i changed a word there.. am i still right] .. because they move hormones better..

but what you said before that is .. i think.. that conifers are more conducive to environmental or organism related mutations ... [i know mutation is a term of art for scientists.. but i am not using it as a term of art ... i am just talking about something behaving unlike what it is supposed to .. as in mutant zombies are much more aggressive that regular zombies]

would it be proper to then conclude.. as a NON-scientist.. that a vast majority of brooms in conifers are.. wait for it ... bug or environmental ...

and i think my brain hurts.. two new thought in one day .. OUCH .. lol ..

did i come full circle.. or am i spiraling out of control.. lol

ken

ps: ok on rereading.. in the ten words.. whats the difference between angio and gymno ..... sperms ???? [and dont tell me the number of sperms.. lol] ....

pps: my all A ninth grader wrote an argumentative paper on the zombie apocalypse ... what can i say ... got zombies on the brain ...

Gymno (naked) sperm (seed) which conifers and ginkgos are refers to the not enclosed ovules. Angio (bottled) sperm are flowering plants.

tj

Gymnosperms have exposed seed, and angiosperms have covered seed (a fleshy, often fruity, coating).

And, no, I did not use Google. :P

-Sam

Witch's broom growth is more likely in conifers because..
(I already used up all my words.. ;-)

-Sam

And very true - although at present Ginkgos are not classified as conifers, they ARE gymnosperms. (Ken, think of 'gymnast' - same root!)
Sara

Here's a pic of a broom in my daughter's back yard in Pittsburgh. Silver maples are pretty low on my list, but this broom has excellent fall color with bright red petioles and veins and good yellow and orange. It grafts reasonably well on either red or silver maple rootstocks.

Charley

It seems like pathogenic brooms, caused by insect or fungal infestations are more common on deciduous angiosperm trees, like this one that I saw in St. Andrews, Scotland a few months ago.

Here are pics of grafts of the silver maple broom.

Charley

Second year growth, after grafting, starts to get congested like the original broom.
This shows summer growth.
Charley

Spring growth of deciduous broom graft.
Charley

Charley,

That is some nice coloring on that Silver maple. Does the grafted broom grow at a slower rate and is it much smaller and really different from the mother tree?

Thanks for the comment on the silver maple broom, lady lotus.
My experience with grafting this broom for the past 4 years indicates that it grows at a slower rate than a typical silver maple. The original broom has a predominance of horizontal branch structure. When grafted, it tends to produce more upright growth for the first couple years. After that, it thickens up and gets more and more congested. The leaves are variable with some of them looking similar to the species while others have either a stubby middle lobe or an elongated middle lobe. Also, the leaves tend to have a lateral curl. When the leaves turn color in autumn, they change gradually over a period of time so that the slower-to-change leaves produce a nice natural contrast to the reds, oranges and yellows of those that have changed color.
As with many brooms, its mature form will only be revealed with time. I'm hoping that it will become more and more horizontal. I'll try to get a better pic of the congested growth without leaves.
Charley

As you can see, the growth of the silver maple broom is very congested, except in the pic of the most recent year's growth.

It makes a nice top graft at 5 or 6'. I've had greatest success grafting the broom onto Acer x freemannii rootstocks. Chip budding in August seems to work as well as any method.

If, after a few years, it settles down and grows as a form with dominantly horizontal branching like the original broom, I think it could be more than just a curiosity.

Here's the pic of last year's growth of the silver maple broom graft. It looks similar to normal silver maple species growth except for the pigmentation and the buds. The bud spacing is not congested, but it will become tightly congested as growth from the lateral buds goes into subsequent years' growth.

Charley