Witch's broom
Type of deformity in a woody plant / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Not to be confused with Mistletoes, which are not the host plant's own tissue, but parasitic plants growing on the host.
For a broom associated with witches, see Besom. For the nebula, see Witch's Broom Nebula.
Witch's broom or witches' broom is a deformity in a woody plant, typically a tree, where the natural structure of the plant is changed. A dense mass of shoots grows from a single point, with the resulting structure resembling a broom or a bird's nest. It is sometimes caused by pathogens.
Diseases with symptoms of witches' broom, caused by phytoplasmas or basidiomycetes, are economically important in a number of crop plants, including the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao,[1] jujube (Ziziphus jujuba)[2] and the timber tree Melia azedarach.[3]