Mutation or Baby Leaves

[onlyrey]

Saw this azalea at Lowes and just bougr it with the hopes that this branch on the tree hs something particular about it (smaller leaves and internodes from a mutation?). My son, who is 5 years old told me they are just baby leaves and they’ll grow like the others. Any kind of hope ?

 

[onlyrey]

I just read about this. It looks like witch’s broom by means of bacterial (most likely), viral or fungal infection. The microorganism produces cytokinin, which inhibits normal growth. Some dwarf cultivars of conifers have come from cloning witch’s broom. If it is a non-viral infection, there is no chance of a mutation. Which brings me to the next question, has anybody tried cytokknin (or any other hormone) to encourage backbudding ? Does anybody know of somebody making something good out of a witch’s broom ?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Does anybody know of somebody making something good out of a witch’s broom ?

Many nursery cultivars come from random genetic aberrations. Some tree species are more likely to have genetic instability and produce more random genetic strains - Japanese maple being an example we are all familiar with.

As far as witch's broom goes, I know for a fact that several dwarf conifer lines come from witch's brooms. The attached image is of the original Pinus thunbergii "kotobuki" tree whose witch's broom produced Pinus thunbergii "kotobuki yatsufusa" which many of us just refer to as Yatsufusa JBP. If you own a yatsufusa - it came from this tree. You can see the witch's broom at the top and how green and tight the foliage is, and how different it is from the lower kotobuki needles. When people ask if JBP backbuds... this cultivar certainly does!!

 

[0soyoung]

has anybody tried cytokknin (or any other hormone) to encourage backbudding ?

Yes.
Spray BA right after bud break counteracts elongation --> short internodes, smaller leaves/needles.
Spray BA after foliage is hardened may release buds on old wood
Spray BA after pine bud set may release the bud and the buds at the bases of what will be needles - quite interesting, but fatal.
Otherwise spray BA on pine may set all fascicular buds for release the following spring - not necessarily fatal, but literally makes a pom pom tree (many seasons to resume life as a normal pine).

Of course, it all varies by species (i.e., how little/much BA it takes to make the same effect).

I haven't tried it as a root drench, which might be a better way to apply it. As a foliar spray, it goes into the phloem sap. As a root drench, it would go into the xylem sap where cytokinins normally are and may have more 'natural' effects.

Little mistakes can really fuck up trees for several seasons. Slightly larger ones are fatal. I still think it could become a beneficial technique for bonsai, but it is a non-trivial task to develop the recipes and timing. Good subject for some research grants, but who would be the angel?

 

[onlyrey]

It is pretty interesting. I read a bit more about it, and it only gets more interesting. What I have may be however just the result of an infection caused by any of a number virus, fungus, or bacteria. The microorganisms release cytokinins (like, as mentioned by 0soyoung BA = 6-Benzylaminopurine), in some cases it seems the plants themselves release it to fight the infection. Bonsainut, it does certainly make sense that witch's brooms may be used for dwarf trees. The case above of an already dwarf conifer that produced a compact witch's broom that then became the source plant for more bonsai is pretty cool. For some reason, most of the cases I found in the "internets" are of conifers.

I am going to prune the rest of the plant and let this branch with the witch's broom grow for a season. If the natural forces in the tree don't kill or reverse the witch's broom, then I'll start thinking about layering it. I put a link to an interest article below, note it is an article from the Minesota Public Network (MPR) from 2013, it has a very interesting audio story, they even shoot the witch's brooms down with shotguns and then "try to grow them".

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2013/01/29/human-interest/witchs-brooms-collectors

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

You should try to root a few cuttings right away, then try the air layer later. Azalea cuttings root so easily it almost isn't worth the effort to air layer.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Hopefully it will prove stable

 

[onlyrey]

I tried growing cuttings, on August 2018. These failed. The "witch's broom" has kept its structure and kept on growing. The broom started flowering about 3 weeks in advance of the rest of the tree. The fact that it has not reverted to the larger leaves may mean it is a true mutation (methinks).

Here are some pictures from Today, at the moment, the broom and the rest of the tree have flowers. For a perspective, I attached a picture of the smaller leaves with the flower buds and the larger leaves also with flower buds.
Smaller leaves from "broom":


Larger leaves with flowers:

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

It is still less than a year, only 8 months at this point. This is not long enough to determine stability. I hit some bamboo with an herbicide. The herbicide caused dwarf and clustered foliage much like what you had. It too 2 years, but the bamboo grew out of the congested foliage. It can take years to determine stability.

However, on a good note, at 8 months and still dwarf is a much higher chance of being stable than when you first noticed it. So keep it going. Try again to roots cuttings or air layer if you can without risking killing the mutated looking growth.

 

[penumbra]

It is a witches broom. I have seen many of them on azaleas. Never tried to root one. It was many years ago.