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Project Noah Nature School
This giant growth is about 6 feet in diameter. It is attached to a branch of a Douglas-fir and is hollow with several nests inside. The needles are different from the host plant. Any ideas?
Spotted on Apr 11, 2019
Submitted on Apr 12, 2019
2 Comments
I agree with mauna except for a clarification, witches' broom is not a separate plant. It is a deformity often caused by disease. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch%27s_...
Hi Jerrie! Cool. This is a witches' broom, a parasitic plant. I don't know which type is on your douglas-fir, but one species (among many other possibilities) is Arceuthobium douglasii, the douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe (https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-t...).