Two White Oaks Naturally Grafted

Treezybreez

Treezybreez

Been here much more than a while
Location
Lancaster, SC
A few days ago I was pruning a few trees near a house. I ascended, readjusted my anchor point and descended to begin pruning branches touching a roof. When I landed on one branch I thought, 'wow that is solid for it's size!' That is when I noticed that it was attached to two Oaks and appeared to have a branch collar on each tree. My ground guy sent my phone up to me so I could snap a few pics. I would like to get some better pics with a real camera eventually. Here is the link https://plus.google.com/u/0/1107880...6037968921597693554&oid=110788003155069646893
 
Nice--no cabling required.

I've seen this before once or twice and I'm sure it was white oak as well. The ones that I saw were only a foot or 2 apart though (small trunks that is). If I remember right, there were several connected limbs sort of resembling ladder rungs.

Cool find!
 
Nice, Treezy. I've come across a few fun things along the same theme...branches the fused to a stem and then lost the section between the original collar and the graft, leaving a stub aimed back at the original collar...growing on from the graft alone. I love these aspects of nature that we can find every once in a while. Thanks for posting that.

Did you look around to see which end was the collar and which was the graft? I had a tough time trying to zoom in on the photos...
 
Siamese twins! :)

BTW Caleb, I checked out some of your other pics on that page......sweet man! How much of that walnut you got left? Bet you were drooling when you saw the color of the heart in some of those logs.

Beautiful bowls too!!!
 
BRT said:
Nice--no cabling required.
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Exactly what I was thinking. In fact it would be neat to try and replicate between two codominate trunks.

oceans said:
Did you look around to see which end was the collar and which was the graft? I had a tough time trying to zoom in on the photos...
Click to expand...

I did and I am guessing the tree on the left is where the grafting occurred. Although both sides of the branch had a collar. It made me wonder which direction moisture flows in the xylem.
 
guymayor said:
2 separate trees, or 2 trunks of the same tree?
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They were two separate trees for sure. I should have taken some pics from ground level.
TreeLogic said:
Siamese twins! :)

BTW Caleb, I checked out some of your other pics on that page......sweet man! How much of that walnut you got left? Bet you were drooling when you saw the color of the heart in some of those logs.

Beautiful bowls too!!!
Click to expand...
I was drooling when I cut that tree down, but the home owner wanted to keep most of the wood. She only allowed me to take a couple of pieces with which I made a fruit bowl. Black Walnut smells great when you cut it. I don't have much walnut left, however I do have a bunch of Hickory, Pecan, and Spalted Ambrosia Maple left. I just need the time to work with them.
 
Just wondering, in this situation wouldn't it be better to remove the limb, just in case it was preventing the natural sway of the two trees and hindering proper callous and taper in the trunks?
 
I think that as long as the branch is healthy and grows with the trunks then it should be fine. Contrary to a steel cable that needs replacing eventually, the branch should grow stronger with time.
 
TreeLogic said:
Just wondering, in this situation wouldn't it be better to remove the limb, just in case it was preventing the natural sway of the two trees and hindering proper callous and taper in the trunks?
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Not sure sway has anything to do with callus growth. Re any other change in diameter, that growth occurs in response to many other factors. Recent study by Mark Reiland showed NO DIFFERENCE between cabled and uncabled red oaks.
That alleged hindrance is repeated a lot but it's more theory than fact; kind of a myth.

The grafted branch may grow stronger over time, or it may be shed. Cables can last 30+ years. Depending on pruning etc., a cable could last longer than the arborist or the owner.
All trees need followup care. Cabled trees may need less.
 
"callus growth" Are you talking about reaction wood? Callus growth is a response to wounding, is it not? I think it is safe to say that a cabled tree will produce reaction wood differently than a non cabled tree (probably less reaction wood since a weight stress has been alleviated). Guy is this the study you were referring too? http://www.isa-arbor.com/events/conference/proceedings/2013/REILAND_Effects%20of%20leaves%20and%20steel%20support%20cables.pdf I did not see anything in the study that related to growth. The study was about dynamic properties.
 
I would think that with tree sway, there are microscopic fractures happening in the stem that get filled in creating callus or reaction wood, no? Kind of like muscles do after a workout. So it would make sense to me too that less sway=less eventual strength in the trunk. Then, when something takes away the "sway prohibitor" (if you will) the tree could potentially have trouble holding itself up in heavy winds, until callus is rebuilt. It seems to happen that way when a forest tree is suddenly placed out in the open. Just my thoughts...
 
TL, I've come across many branches in sugar maples (for that matter several other species as well) that have grafted and the portion between the two points is smaller in diameter than the portion growing beyond the graft. A clear demonstration of reaction wood growth.

TB, was it clearly grafted or was it just callous growth of the limb appearing as a collar? Often what looks like a solid point isn't. Once removed there is little that hold the two together.
 
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