In article
, jadel
wrote:

On Aug 12, 10:05=A0am, Jack Schmidling wrote:
Returning home from our Friday trip to town, we spotted this strange
apparition in a tree along the road.....


It is what is known as a 'witch's broom.' They occur rather
frequently on conifers. They can be caused by a virus or some other
infectious agent or injury , but sometimes they happen spontaneously
as a result of mutation. There is one on a Norway Spruce near my
office.

Some of the more interesting ones become valuable cultivars when an
enterprising arborist spots them and clones them.

J. Del Col

Yep, many dwarf cultivars have been developed from "witch's brooms." I
find that so fascinating. I have a 'Pimoko" Serbian spruce developed from
a witches broom. It was a stubby little thing when I got it but without
getting much taller than eight inches it's now qutie the tiny shrub, in an
outdoor pot with a teency species of cyclamen. Here's my article about it:
http://www.paghat.com/pimoko.html
photo from the first year I had it; it's a denser rounder mini-shrub now,
I should add an update photo.

And here's an article on the Miniature Bird's Nest Norway Spruce you
mention, one of the more commonly encountered witches brooms in the trade:
http://www.paghat.com/birdsnestspruce.html
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