Epicormic on limes

[stihlmadasever]

And so its coming to that time of year when we raise the canopy on all of our street trees,a hefty proportion of which are common limes,which brings me to my question...

Can someone please explain to me why limes are so prone to a lot of Epicormic growth.Try and keep it simple im not blessed in the grey matter department.

Thanks all in advance

[daltontrees]

And so its coming to that time of year when we raise the canopy on all of our street trees,a hefty proportion of which are common limes,which brings me to my question...

Can someone please explain to me why limes are so prone to a lot of Epicormic growth.Try and keep it simple im not blessed in the grey matter department.

Thanks all in advance

 

Few Limes are, mainly small leaved lime (Tilia cordata) and its hybrid common lime (Tilia x europaea).

 

It's what they do. That's why they do it.

 

The idea of a tree having a straight stem clear of branches to 8ft is artificial. In nature browsers like deer would take new growth up to that height, but in the average urban street there are few browsing deer to explain why trees are clear stemmed. And for a tree, all that light striking the stem is wasted. Some Limes have adventitious buds just beneath the bark that will react to available light and will pop out. And there's your epicormic. And once these are removed, the removal site is thin barked and well served by vascular flows and will produce epicormics again and again.

 

In evolution, it must have served small leaved lime well to produce epicpormics. The whole tree coild snap off at the base through fungal decay or storm damage, and the tree can pretty much carry on from the epicormics alone. Some of the oldest trees in Britain are limes that have been coppiced for centuries and have expanded out into great circles of, essentially, overgrown epicormics. It's a good insurance policy.

[stihlmadasever]

Few Limes are, mainly small leaved lime (Tilia cordata) and its hybrid common lime (Tilia x europaea).

 

It's what they do. That's why they do it.

 

The idea of a tree having a straight stem clear of branches to 8ft is artificial. In nature browsers like deer would take new growth up to that height, but in the average urban street there are few browsing deer to explain why trees are clear stemmed. And for a tree, all that light striking the stem is wasted. Some Limes have adventitious buds just beneath the bark that will react to available light and will pop out. And there's your epicormic. And once these are removed, the removal site is thin barked and well served by vascular flows and will produce epicormics again and again.

 

In evolution, it must have served small leaved lime well to produce epicpormics. The whole tree coild snap off at the base through fungal decay or storm damage, and the tree can pretty much carry on from the epicormics alone. Some of the oldest trees in Britain are limes that have been coppiced for centuries and have expanded out into great circles of, essentially, overgrown epicormics. It's a good insurance policy.

 

Thanks for that clear and concise answer mate,ive always wondered but never asked.

[David Humphries]

A number of tree species, including (some) Limes, Robinia and Elm have the ability to naturally sprout from the base as a reflection of the life stage that they're currently at.

 

This can be described as its 'Ontogenetic age' as opposed to its 'Chronological or Physiological age' The latter two describe the actual age and the actual vigour/health of the tree at its current point in time, where as the former describes the point where the tree is in its phase of life (seedling, juvenile, adult, veteran etc....) when talking about basal sprouting for instance, this is where the tree will/can utilise its natural regenerative ability (putting on lots of additional foliage) to continue its existence.

 

The basal/trunk sprouters are generally trees that coppice well.

 

 

.

[stihlmadasever]

Thanks david

[Kveldssanger]

Few Limes are, mainly small leaved lime (Tilia cordata) and its hybrid common lime (Tilia x europaea).

 

It's what they do. That's why they do it.

 

The idea of a tree having a straight stem clear of branches to 8ft is artificial. In nature browsers like deer would take new growth up to that height, but in the average urban street there are few browsing deer to explain why trees are clear stemmed. And for a tree, all that light striking the stem is wasted. Some Limes have adventitious buds just beneath the bark that will react to available light and will pop out. And there's your epicormic. And once these are removed, the removal site is thin barked and well served by vascular flows and will produce epicormics again and again.

 

In evolution, it must have served small leaved lime well to produce epicpormics. The whole tree coild snap off at the base through fungal decay or storm damage, and the tree can pretty much carry on from the epicormics alone. Some of the oldest trees in Britain are limes that have been coppiced for centuries and have expanded out into great circles of, essentially, overgrown epicormics. It's a good insurance policy.

 

I believe vegetative propagation (suckering) is a survival mechanism that was initially established in wet, dark woodlands, where reproduction via seed was poor. From there, species further evolved into their niches, of which lime is a main culprit.