weird maple

[jmayerl]

4113So I was in my tree stand yesterday and noticed the strangest thing. This is a very large maple and just below me are to branches. Off of the branch is another branch that grows back to the main trunk. Very odd looking, just wonder if anyone else has seen anything similar.

[maple flats]

I've seen same tree and 2 different tree species do similar. One on my route home has a branch doing that. It divides into a branch from a branch and about 2' away it grows back into one. Looks wierd.

[lastwoodsman]

I have seen a natural graft like this as well. While unusal not aheard of in the wild.
Woodsman

[SevenCreeksSap]

Maybe you all know this but here goes.
There is a term in the tree world called compartmentalization of decay in trees (CODIT). this is the trees' natural defense to a foreign object, disease, damage, insects, ect. its also the term for what happens when your tap holes heal up.
This picture is kind of an example of this, except the foreign object is part of the same tree. It looks like as it grew, the branch was against the main stem and probably rubbed on it for a while. the tree started compartmentalizing to heal the damage and over time the bark grew around the branch. It looks like it actually killed off the top of the branch, unless that stub was cut off right there.
From what I've learned about tapping, you dont get much sap if you tap the same hole. Thats because the tree healed there and sealed off the damage. You can kill a tree if you completely circle it with some unnatural object like rope or something that cuts off the cambium layer of the tree. something to keep in mind if running tubing or something.
This is also how Emerald Ash Borer and maybe ALB kills the tree. the larvae damage too much cambium and the tree cant feed. I need to read more about ALB, they found it in Ohio now.

[Dennis H.]

I have one tree that looks similar to that. It is a branch that is about 4" around that goes right back into the tree about 3' up.
Healthy looking tree, just another freak of nature I guess.

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

Look at this one. It is in my sugarbush right by the house.

[Dennis H.]

Now that one almost looks like it has been photoshop'ed!

[maple flats]

I believe that last picture is just from 2 seedlings growing together, may well not be sharing anything more than proximity. I also have some like that, many are not a similar age, just 2 crowded together.

[C.Wilcox]

Look at this one. It is in my sugarbush right by the house.

Does that tree give cherry flavored sap in the spring?

[CBOYER]

i have post this one some month ago, a yellow birch in a maple
http://mapletrader.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=3873&d=1313775894

[DrTimPerkins]

Years ago I saw two oaks that had grown together to form a perfect H about 12 ft up. Perfect for a swing. Neat.

[Cardigan99]

Years ago I saw two oaks that had grown together to form a perfect H about 12 ft up. Perfect for a swing. Neat.

I cut down two four-inch beech this summer, 18" apart connected by a 1" branch diagonal.

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

That tree is not tappable size yet. I will let you know if it gives cherry flavored sap :lol: lol

[twitch]

Look at this one. It is in my sugarbush right by the house.

I got a oak and a cedar behind my house that look about like that set