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Nick Maclaren · 10-07-2007, 10:18 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening,rec.gardens

In article ,
writes:
| Dear All,
| I have a sick apple tree which is *covered* in mistletoe. The
| variety is Howgate Wonder. It is about 30 years old and it had more
| mistletoe than apple leaves and stems and the apple leaves are scruffy and
| yellowed. The really strange thing is mistletoe shoots are emerging all
| over its branches. As I understood it, mistletoe propagation requires
| seeds to be inserted into the bark (eg. by birds) -- I'm sure this cannot
| be the case here. It is as though the mistletoe has 'invaded' the apple
| tree's tissues and taken over. Does this make an botanical sense and has
| anyone seen anything like this before?

No, and no, but it sounds very odd.

| A few months ago I cut off most of the mistletoe but the tree still looks
| pretty sick. Is there any hope for it?

Unlikely. And the cause won't have been the mistletoe. 30 years is
about the life of many apple trees.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.