Hi all,

I've been pondering mutations in conifers recently...I know really
exciting stuff. Anyway...

On my walk to my car from work there is a Thuja cultivar that has what
appears to be a sport growing out of it. The planting is a group of
three very compact dwarf Thuja. They haven't been pruned in while and
they are planted in front of an office building. The one in the front
of the arrangment has a non dwarf Thuja growing from the middle of it
about 10 inches off the ground. Is this a sport / witches broom random
mutation, or is it a revert back to the plain species? Is there a way
to tell?

Secondly there is an Dwarf Alberta Spruce (Picea Glauca Conica IIRC)
near my house that has a differnt looking spruce growing right out of
the side. It looks non-drawf and fast growing. The needles resemble
it's parent in texture and density but the shoot growth and iternode
distance are considerably more coarse. I supose this could be
reverting to species from a cultivar too, again how do you tell if it
is has mutated and isn't reverting?

thanks a bunch,
-Ethan

--
Ethan Smith, Columbus, Ohio
USDA Zone 6, Sunset 35 & 41
but wait around, it may feel more like zone 2 or even 9?

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