Why is this happening to my tree?

[Mick Dempsey]

I dunno, tbh, I'm expecting a learned Arbtalker to solve this mystery soon.

 

Can you graft a cornus onto a sorbus?

[Harry_L]

Do you know of any experts on here i could message incase they don't see this thread??

 

 

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[Mick Dempsey]

Some of the other posters on this thread know their onions, I'd be surprised if they're not already on the case.

[Stubby]

Some of the other posters on this thread know their onions, I'd be surprised if they're not already on the case.

 

So . Grafted on to an Onion then Mick ?

[Mick Dempsey]

Ha! It's a puzzle fo' sho'.

 

Surprised it hasn't lured more peeps in.

[sloth]

I don't know much about grafting to be honest, and it's hard to make out from the pics. Are there definitely two clearly different leaf types from the same stem? Best guess would be two individuals growing from what is mistaken for one base/stem, can that be ruled out for sure? If not, as said a rootstock sprouting on a grafted tree, or a cultivar reverting. Or some species can have very varied leaves on one tree, like eucalyptus and mulberry, but I'm not convinced about that here...

[Mark Wileman]

Maybe the Dogwood thinks he is a Holly!

[Harry_L]

I am 100% sure both types leaves come from the same stem.

 

 

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[Harry_L]

Haha Maby it wants to be a holly!!

 

 

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[agg221]

OK so there are four possibilities I can think of, assuming that it isn't just that those two main branches from the ground are different plants and produce consistently different foliage.

 

1. It's grafted. This is done with some named varieties of Cornus but most grafting is done low down so you tend to only get different leaves from suckers, not from branches. It is possible that it was high worked - this would be done typically with something that does not form a good upright stem, such as a weak-growing or weeping cultivar grafted onto a strong, vigorous form which does not appear to be the case here. It could have been high-worked anyway, perhaps to try to form a standard from something which typically forms a multi-stemmed shrub on its own roots. If this was the case, you would see all growth below a certain point with one form of leaf and all growth above it with a different form of leaf. This would mean the Cornus leaves at ground level would be seedlings, so you could check by excavating around them and seeing whether they are suckers or seedlings; by looking at whether there is a definite line somewhere up the trunk where the bark changes slightly, above which all leaves are 'normal' and below which all leaves are cut form.

 

2. It was a particular form which has reverted. The more likely desirable form would be the cut leaved one, however this may be weaker and therefore crowded out by the reverted, normal form. If this is the case, you can get complete loss of the original type in all growth above the reversion point, but if you get new growth on the original part of the plant it can show the original form. This has a similar appearance to the grafted situation above, but with a slight randomness over which form arises and no graft line.

 

3. You have got a natural sport occurring. This is how a lot of cultivars arise, but it typically comes from one growth point only, so a single branch. The fact that it shows up at several points down the trunk suggests not.

 

4. You have a chimera. This is extremely rare, and therefore unlikely, but can happen when two plants are grafted together and both manage to contribute to the growing tip, so genetic material from each is combined down the branches.

 

Alec