'Double-Trees', two (or more) growing as one.

[Joonsy]

I have always been intrigued by ‘double-trees’, that is trees that divide into two or more trunks from the base of the trunk. I have often wondered if such trees are grown from one single seed and just happen to branch out low at base (so they are ‘one’ tree), or if they grow from multiple seeds that happen to lie very close together and the individual shoots then fuse together or try to divide as they grow (so they are ‘two’, or more, trees growing very close together). The shapes these trees can form as they grow can be amazing as the branches and trunks fuse together or try to divide. Below is just one such example I know of, an oak tree which has ‘five’ individual trunks sprouting from one single ‘bowl’, photos do not do it justice (I’m a rubbish photographer) but the branches/trunks of this tree are fused together in lots of places (are they joining together or are they growing apart). I suppose it could be one tree growing ‘oddly’ or five trees growing so close together they have fused into one. Any other examples or thoughts members have would be nice.

Five individual trunks sprouting from one bowl and fusing together - One tree or Five trees ?

Three of the trunks fusing together making a complete circle

tree seen in full

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Tree's like this are rather funky. I've seen a few trees recently which have bits of barb wire fence that are embedded with in them.

The weirdest one I saw tho was an Oak tree growing as an Epiphyte on a pollarded willow by a canal near Utrecht.

Julia

 

[cranmere]

Chances are that trees like that were damaged at an early stage and threw up additional shoots. You see them sometimes in old coppice land which hasn't been managed for a long time. Trees that are coppiced regularly over several centuries end up making what looks like a ring of separate trees, there is a wonderful example of that at Westonbirt arboretum which is reckoned to be at least 1000 years old.

 

[Joonsy]

Tree's like this are rather funky. I've seen a few trees recently which have bits of barb wire fence that are embedded with in them.

The weirdest one I saw tho was an Oak tree growing as an Epiphyte on a pollarded willow by a canal near Utrecht.

Julia

yes i know of some good examples of trees embedded with old metal gates & fencing which is quite a spectacle, there is a tree in the Trossachs/Scotland that has a bicycle embedded in it http://wildaboutscotland.com/2013/10/27/the-bicycle-tree/

 

[Nice65]

Google 'Tree Circus'. I visited it many years ago, incredible grafting.

 

[Joonsy]

Chances are that trees like that were damaged at an early stage and threw up additional shoots. You see them sometimes in old coppice land which hasn't been managed for a long time. Trees that are coppiced regularly over several centuries end up making what looks like a ring of separate trees, there is a wonderful example of that at Westonbirt arboretum which is reckoned to be at least 1000 years old.

thanks for reply, yes damage is a possibilty of course, and years ago trees were specifically encouraged to grow a certain way to cater for various uses. Though coppicing and pollarding would count for some examples i think some just naturally grow a peculiar shape for various reasons. There are some old woodlands in worcesteshire that used to be coppiced by Harris Brushes for making wooden handled paint brushes that have some of those examples you mention of neglected coppicing, they went out of business and rented their woods out (i rented one myself) then the woodland trust bought up a lot of them (including mine).

 

[Joonsy]

Google 'Tree Circus'. I visited it many years ago, incredible grafting.

have just done so, thanks for that link very interesting indeed , thank goodness they were saved i was dismayed to read those trees were going to de bulldozed in 1977. you must have had a great visit there quite a spectacle.

 

[Goatboy]

Slightly different but in a similar vein, when I worked at Buccleuch Estates at Drumlanrig there was a Yew tree on the policy that had a Rowan growing out of a split in the trunk. Always thought it poignant that a tree to protect against evil should be growing forth from a tree associated with death..

Cool pictures by the way. Has my mind racing as to how the grains are running locked away inside there.

GB.

 

[Joonsy]

Slightly different but in a similar vein, when I worked at Buccleuch Estates at Drumlanrig there was a Yew tree on the policy that had a Rowan growing out of a split in the trunk. Always thought it poignant that a tree to protect against evil should be growing forth from a tree associated with death..

Cool pictures by the way. Has my mind racing as to how the grains are running locked away inside there.

GB.

Thanks for reply, poignant indeed two ends of the spectrum there in yew and rowan. Yes the grain must be fascinating in the direction it is taking, i can't help wonder 'which' way it is growing on the fused parts, is the right limb growing into the left limb or vica versa if you know what i mean, are the limbs joining together or growing apart, makes the mind wonder at what the grain would look like.

 

[Goatboy]

Thinking back to the tree surgery days it's called "inosculation" when branches/trunks conjoin.The trunks in cross section can look like contour maps of a hilly area. And it can go across species too. Like can deliberately be done to get different fruits growing on the same tree. Wiki has a good page here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inosculation, on the fruit salad tree it's come on a bit since I was taught to do grafting with some amazing mixtures like shown here. http://www.fruitsaladtrees.com/Fruit-Salad-Tree




Husband and Wife blackthorn. (Prunus spinosa) at Lynncraigs farm, Dalry, North Ayrshire, Scotland.

 

[Joonsy]

Thinking back to the tree surgery days it's called "inosculation" when branches/trunks conjoin.The trunks in cross section can look like contour maps of a hilly area. And it can go across species too. Like can deliberately be done to get different fruits growing on the same tree. Wiki has a good page here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inosculation, on the fruit salad tree it's come on a bit since I was taught to do grafting with some amazing mixtures like shown here. http://www.fruitsaladtrees.com/Fruit-Salad-Tree

Thanks for that Goatboy and links, i hadn't heard the term 'inosculation' before, a natural phenomenon then, having looked at your link it stated trees growing very close together and joining naturally are called 'conjoined trees' joining through inosculation, so though specimens of two trees are mostly found it could happen to any number growing close enough i suppose. That fruit salad tree is an incredible specimen of grafting, six types of fruit growing one tree. 'Husband & Wife' pic a good specimen too, thanks sharing i have learned some more.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Slightly different but in a similar vein, when I worked at Buccleuch Estates at Drumlanrig there was a Yew tree on the policy that had a Rowan growing out of a split in the trunk. Always thought it poignant that a tree to protect against evil should be growing forth from a tree associated with death..

The Rowan in this case is actually an Epiphyte, not an inosculation. It's common for trees to have other plants growing on them in this fashion, but for a tree to have another tree, such as the oak growing out of the top of a pollarded willow in the Netherlands that I mentioned previous, is much more uncommon.

In tropical rainforests there are whole collections of plants growing in the upper story of the tree canopy, with their roots never touching the ground. In temperate broadleaf woodland however it is rare, I am guessing the oak in question grew from an acorn hidden there by a jay that forgot. The leaves caught in the crotch of the tree provide enough decomposing nutriment for the tree to get a grip, tho for how long it can sustain that is anyone's guess.

Julia

 

[TurboGirl]

We had a very interesting arborist chap walk round North Wood with us a couple of meets ago, he refered to the single split trunk as 'sub co-dominated' and said that it was often caused by damage to a very young sapling iirc We often see it round here in the ash-dominated woodland- perhaps ash is particularly prone to it because of its fast growth? I dunno

He added that it does cause weakeness in the tree due to rot potential at the join to the main trunk

 

[Joonsy]

We had a very interesting arborist chap walk round North Wood with us a couple of meets ago, he refered to the single split trunk as 'sub co-dominated' and said that it was often caused by damage to a very young sapling iirc We often see it round here in the ash-dominated woodland- perhaps ash is particularly prone to it because of its fast growth? I dunno

He added that it does cause weakeness in the tree due to rot potential at the join to the main trunk

Thanks for reply Turbogirl, all good sfuff there.