Questions
On 1/20 I visited the edge of a nearby swamp. While observing I noticed a log that had been torn to splinters. Who did this? a bear, skunk, or other mammal?
After finding a hollowed out acorn shell in a witches broom and imagining the chipmunk that may have called it home for a bit, I wondered how are witch's brooms formed. So I went to Wikipedia today: "This can be caused by cytokinin, a phytohormone which interferes with growth regulation. The phenomenon can also be caused by other organisms, including fungi, oomycetes, insects, mites, nematodes, phytoplasmas, and viruses". Wow, so much diversity that can change a tree or bush resulting in a singular mutation! And I had naively assumed that all witch's brooms were caused by only one certain insect, fungi, or hormone, etc.
Also, there were numerous shrubs of the same species in the swamp. What characteristics or adaptations make this particular shrub survive so well in the swamp?
Photos of shrub and witch's broom have been submitted.
Ginger
Comments
WOW, I didn't know about witch's broom. I will look for that next time I am out.
Do you have any photos of the log that was torn to splinters? I'm so curious what this looks like and who/what caused it!
That's really interesting, I didn't know about witches' broom before your post! I love coming across things like your broken log, and wondering what could have done that :).
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