rhunt@med.unc.edu (Rick Hunt) (04/30/91)
I have been informed by a co-worker that I did not explain myself very well in my previous posts. I will attempt to do better this time. The growth that I observed that I thought might be some kind of cancerous growth was 50-75 small twigs growing from an area on a branch about 3cm to a side. They spread out at about a 30 degree angle and were about 25cm long. The best description would be that it looked like a broom. I finally did what I should have done in the first place and called the biology dept. at the University and asked a botanist. He said it was a growth caused by a fungus and was called a witch's broom. The fungus causes a runaway growth that is somewhat similar to cancer. It can be dangerous to the plant because it uses too much of the plant's resources. I thought I should post the answer in case anyone's curiousity was too great. Rick Hunt rhunt@med.unc.edu