Witches broom

An unusual and aberrant growth of stems, commonly referred to as a proliferation of shoots, can occur in various plant species. A single shoot can be supplanted by an excessive number of additional shoots, which can impart the visual impression of a broom, especially if all the shoots sprout in a single direction. However, in trees, the growth pattern is often irregular, causing a loss of apical dominance, and resulting in an intricate and intertwined cluster of shoots, resembling a bird’s nest rather than a broom. This phenomenon is typically induced by the fungus Taphrina betulina, which infects birch trees. Nonetheless, the same term is less appropriately employed to describe pathological conditions found in herbaceous plants. In such cases, the branching pattern becomes more profuse, the plant produces numerous, thin stems, and the leaves are often substantially reduced in size, resulting in a witches’ broom appearance, as seen in potato plants.


 


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