Growth anomaly on ash trees

[Pete Mctree]

I was re-reducing 5 massively over pruned Ash trees on Friday, when I began to notice some unusual growth like you can see in the images below. The other unusual growth habit was the massive annual growth- epicormic shoots of over 2m in length in 2 growing seasons.

i have seen this before , years ago & always wondered what the root cause was. Any ideas?

[Steve Bullman]

I remember posting something similar a few years ago Pete, although not as severe as this.  There was an answer although I can't remember what it was 

[openspaceman]

13 minutes ago, Pete Mctree said:

I was re-reducing 5 massively over pruned Ash trees on Friday, when I began to notice some unusual growth like you can see in the images below. The other unusual growth habit was the massive annual growth- epicormic shoots of over 2m in length in 2 growing seasons.

i have seen this before , years ago & always wondered what the root cause was. Any ideas?

Fasciation, its when the  meristematic cells divide wrongly, maybe as a result of excess plant hormones though in the past it often was from a whiff of 245t, a man made plant hormone mimic.

[Pete Mctree]

Is it an infection? All the trees bar one displayed the growth habit

[openspaceman]

36 minutes ago, Pete Mctree said:

Is it an infection? All the trees bar one displayed the growth habit

I don't know if it can be caused by an infection but if a number have the  signs I would suspect a growth regulator of some sort had been used nearby.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I suspect this fasciation is caused by a bacterium or fungal most likely former, ash are particularly prone as is forsythia. I once saw a foxglove with it and the flower head was a sight to behold! No chemicals need be implicated at all. Perfectly natural, harmless and actualy on flowering species quite stunning at times

[MrNick]

It looks like phyllody, flowers become excessive vegetative growth. Caused by viral infections. Also happens in strawberries,clover and garden flowers.

[David Humphries]

On 9/3/2017 at 06:59, Tony Croft aka hamadryad said:

....... Perfectly natural, harmless and actualy on flowering species quite stunning at times

Agreed

 

 

https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/54051-can-anyone-identify-the-cause-of-these-deformities/

 

 

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[devon TWiG]

I think the Forsythia is quite common with this disorder and often encouraged / cultivated for the flower arranging fraternity ...

[treeman]

I've seen this on Sycamore and sumach