Bill the Broom Hunter. Could be the next Netflix hit. Definitely more interesting than some of the stuff I’ve seen over the past month or so. ;)

Thanks!

This broom resides on a tree(s) I moved to this spot when they were a little over a foot tall. There are smaller brooms on this same group of trees, possibly the same tree. The trees are so close together making it difficult to accurately evaluate but at least I have a validated location.

Yes, that does look very interesting and something different as to habit, great find there :)

so ,, this is on your property ? COOL !

ron

if there is more than one broom on one tree,,I would say very unusual indeed

Yes and I have friends and relatives with land I ask to scout, then there's always public/state land. I'll be gathering intel all season then decide what options are best for my limited agenda. Which could change at any moment without notice. :-)

Thanks for that info! These trees are no more than 8 ft or so apart with branches intertwined in all directions. I'll get out there again this season and see if I can decipher this.

The brooms all appear to be on the north and northwest side of the group, if that matters?

Anything else I should be looking for? Species, form, compactness?

I don't think there are many White Spruce brooms commonly found in the nursery trade. P. glauca 'Echiniformis' comes to mind, and I'm sure there are others, but they're not abundant as far as I know.

Does it have a nice, rich blue color to it (think Sanders Blue)? That would help. Oh, and if it produces an abundance of vividly colored cones that would be really cool. :)

Nice find Bill
I've never heard of a cluster of brooms before. Should be interesting going forward!

Thanks Larry!

That's nice to know. I'll have located many specimens by the time Fall arrives, more than I'll be able to handle decently, so I'll avoid the questionable candidates like these. Why waste time? I'm a little puzzled why these 30+ year trees show no cones, another red flag?

It's possible I'll stick to seed collecting only this season because collection time is generally more favourable climate wise. We'll see what winter brings. :-)

A broom with a pendulous habit - is there anything like that?

’Burning Well’ is probably the most popular P. glauca witches broom.

I’d agree it doesn’t seem like there are a lot of brooms out there with this species vs say a P. strobus which is a dime a dozen. There is a very nice blue green one near me but there are already many successful brooms out there for strobus

Thanks whaas. It is unusual that I'm finding so many irregularities in such a compact area among my white spruce.

On one P. glauca broom, a few hundred feet away, I can see cones. So if those cones would be a lot smaller than normal cones, could that be an indication of a mutational broom?

ALL BROOMS ARE MUTATIONS

You're right, I should've said 'Genetic mutation'.

My question still stands. :-)

That's a hard question for a hobbyist. In other words your trying to eliminate brooms resulting from other disorders being able to cone.
I would say possible but not sure.
Certainly interesting question...

Yes, process of elimination to keep from doing more work than necessary. :-)

And my thinking is, if broom seeds can produce more interesting prodigy than the parent, it would be nice to know the difference between phytoplasmic and genetic mutations and if the former could produce seeds that do not revert back to species attributes.

According to our DNR, we only have 10 coniferous trees that are native to Minnesota.

So what ever I find will be a product of me wandering around the woods, which I love to do in the late summer and fall.

1. Juniperus virginiana - Red cedar
2. Thuja occidentalis - White cedar
3. Abies balsamea - Balsam fir
4. Tsuga canadensis - Hemlock
5. Pinus strobus - White pine
6. Pinus banksiana - Jack pine
7. Pinus resinosa - Red pine
8. Picea mariana - Black spruce
9. Picea glauca - White spruce
10. Larix laricina - American Tamarack

Google Pine Dwarf Segregates from Witches' Brooms for a good explanation of seedlings grown from brooms.

As for the phytoplasmic brooms, my guess is the seedlings would be normal.

So....your wondering if there is a way to be able to decipher between the two from only a visual?

I don't think it's possible to find a 'no reversion guarantee' for cultivars of species and for some reason I've seen a handful over the years on dwarf white spruces.

I do think from your first photo you have a cool broom with potential
and the dwarf cones are right in your wheelhouse! lol

At least with the Pinus resinosa phytoplasmic brooms I have seen, the needles were normal length but the spacing between needles was much reduced resulting in the broom appearance.

'alley_cat_gw said: So....your wondering if there is a way to be able to decipher between the two from only a visual?'

Wishful thinking? Probably so. :-)

I found an interesting sport on P. glauca in my yard last season. It has a terminal bud so I'm waiting to see if growth continues and not sure what category this will fall into. The needles are around 1/8" L., very tightly arranged. From my readings, P.g. is susceptible to a fungal disease that causes deformed growth or it may be a weird anomaly growing in the shade.

' As for the phytoplasmic brooms, my guess is the seedlings would be normal.'

Thanks Larry.

I didn't realize either that broom seeds being cross pollinated by 'normal' parts of the tree or nearby trees could result in normal growth trees from those seeds.

I'll just keep playing around. :-)

My seeds from P. banksiana broom have not germinated to date after over 110 days. I don't hold out much hope for them but they're out under the sun shade and I'm keeping them moist for now

I just saw this now.

'At least with the Pinus resinosa phytoplasmic brooms I have seen, the needles were normal length but the spacing between needles was much reduced resulting in the broom appearance.'

Good to know. Most of these P.glauca brooms here look like normal needles but the stems are maybe half the length of normal and possibly a little closer arrangement of needles. Like I say, I'll probably collect the most unusual I can find and hope for the best. :-)

Updating on the little sport mentioned above. It did not grow at all this season. It didn't die either and still has what looks like a terminal bud. That's all I know. Will continue to check on it.

The little sport did nothing at all this season, maybe yellowed a bit more. Terminal bud made no attempt to grow. So much for the picea glaucas here.