Friday, November 8, 2013

What Is This?



     Can anybody out there help me with this? There is a tree in my neighbourhood that has one branch of very unusual growth. You can see it in the photo as a light cluster of very dense branches and needles. I think this is a Douglas Fir tree. I have Googled a large variety of words and combinations of words and cannot come up with an answer as to what this is or what causes it.
     Somebody once pointed out something similar to this on a different type of tree and said that forestation genetic engineers look for clusters like this to study the aberrations in the genetics and growth hormones of these clusters and try to incorporate this into new seedlings to speed up the growth of lumber producing trees. Can this be true?

    This tree is behind the Colleen and Gordie Howe Middle School on the corner of McLure and Clearbrook Rds. and is best viewed from the soccer fields behind Mouat High School. The unusual cluster is very evident and stands out greatly in the early morning light.

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