Now if only I could do this

[Sno]

Noticed this the other day while walking . It's a snowgum stump that was cut over 10 years ago because it was growing under a power line . The regrowth has tiny leaves . I added a normal size leaf from a near by tree for a size comparison .

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Cheers Sno

[Beaumatsu2]

That's crazy, I wonder if it's just its initial mechanism to recovering from such a massive shock to the system or can it stay like that? Only one way to find out haha.


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[Kevin]

G'day Sno,

I've seen this pattern of regrowth many times, only occurring with extremely hardy trees that would also be well established root wise.

They have been hit with Glyphosate or a similar compound and for some reason - the strength of the mixture or the applied amount hasn't been sufficient or it could have rained soon after application.

Kevin

[melbrackstone]

They have been hit with Glyphosate or a similar compound and for some reason - the strength of the mixture or the applied amount hasn't been sufficient or it could have rained soon after application.

Does that mean we can produce bonsais with a dilute glyphosate mix?

Just kiddin Kevin.... but it does make you wonder! Thanks for the info.

Cheers

[regwac]

Have a look at the post "Good old roundup" in deciduous .
Cheers
Graham

[GavinG]

All you need to do is dig it, Sno.....

Another vote for Glyphosate, most likely.

Gavin

[melbrackstone]

Have a look at the post "Good old roundup" in deciduous

Cheers Graham, yes I do remember reading that thread now.

I won't be using it to chemically prune my trees.

[Sno]

G'day Sno,

I've seen this pattern of regrowth many times, only occurring with extremely hardy trees that would also be well established root wise.

They have been hit with Glyphosate or a similar compound and for some reason - the strength of the mixture or the applied amount hasn't been sufficient or it could have rained soon after application.

Kevin

Hi Kevin .Have you found the plants to grow out of the mutation ?

All you need to do is dig it, Sno.....

Ok . It will be an interesting project , considering 10 years ago the tree was over 5m tall . It could make a cool shohin .

[Kevin]

Hello Sno,

Whilst i have seen the regrowth of many species, particularly wild olive and roses too (out of interest to another member) it was due to work very similar to what is nearby you under the powerlines - (many years ago i actually quoted for that tender).

More recently, the research i have done revolves around the Mycorrhiza impact within the rhizosphere. The plant afflicted with the Glyphosate DOES NOT become mutated as such, however is deformed somewhat with the immediate regrowth.

What is happening in areas of constant Glyphosate applications is the mutation of the Mycorrhiza. The Mycorrhizal fungi, living symbiotically with their host tree / s in an effort to survive the constant Glyphosate hits have themselves evolved and produced an enzyme - Agrobacterium sp. which they pass onto the plant.

This enzyme counteracts the plant's responses to Glyphosate.

Very heavy reading, hope i explained okay.

Kevin

[Rory]

well...

Then again, it may also be nothing more than what can happen in nature.

Over the years I would have purchased hundreds and hundreds of Eucs in the past, and on the odd occasion I have seen 'micro growth' form like this. Normally, after they are cut back and root pruned, they simply burst forth all over, but every now and then, you get micro growth forming naturally. There were no pesticides or any spray involved.

EucViridis.jpg

This was purchased, then cut back and the tap root removed. It died right back to the base, then later it produced this new teeny tiny growth.
The normal young leaves can be seen atop, and I placed one on the top soil to show you the immense size difference.

[Kevin]

Rory,
I was referring to nature.
Specifically the scientifically proven evidence of how plants are adapting and evolving to their ever changing environments. "Survival of the fittest"
All i have mentioned are scientific facts and what i have seen hundreds of times across many varied locations.
What has happened above ????

Sno,
I do know the plants will kick on (survive), and initially grow very slowly. As for long term growth after a Glyphosate hit i cannot comment as:
1. I was contracted to remove vegetation not observe.
2. I haven't delved deep enough into the specifics of the plants genetic tolerances to Glyphosate.

As for the dig.... 10 years to produce the above growth.... the size of the adjacent stump....the roots that are feeding the growth are located....

Good Luck.
Keep us informed.

Kevin

[Rory]

Rory,
I was referring to nature.
Specifically the scientifically proven evidence of how plants are adapting and evolving to their ever changing environments. "Survival of the fittest"
All i have mentioned are scientific facts and what i have seen hundreds of times across many varied locations.
What has happened above ????

Hi Kevin,

Perhaps you misunderstood my post. I was saying that in nature you don't get glyphosate applied or sprayed, it is a man-made herbicide. I was saying that I have seen this growth develop without any spray or man-made chemical applied. I do understand that you are saying this growth may be a result of glyphosate. On the other hand, I was just saying it may or may not be though.

The growth that you see on the picture I have included was the tree producing a bazillion shoots in an attempt to survive. Presumably when the tree produces so many shoots, it only has a certain amount of nutrients to support the growth of each shoot. Therefore if the tree can manage to keep them alive, it again presumably has to keep the foliage small, ... but for how long is anyone's guess.

[Joel]

Hi all,

I believe what you are seeing is the last-ditch effort for survival where the plant stimulates a mass differentiation of the stem cells in the cambium for growth. In the case of the species mentioned in this thread (Roses, Eucalypts and Olives) the flush of growth is particularly obvious as there is an incredibly dense area of cambial tissue at the base, the lignotuber. This response is a common occurrence in species that are naturally prone to physical damage be it from grazing, fire, wind, snow, being rubbed by an itchy stag etc.

Many shoots emerge to increase the odds that at least one will survive long enough to produce mature foliage then flower and hopefully reproduce. The objective for the first few small leaves is only to produce enough sugars to produce larger leaves. It is useless to produce large leaves early on in stem elongation as they will (hopefully) soon be replaced with larger leaves and shaded out, leaving them useless. This adoption is more common in plants evolved in places where they are exposed to high light levels and may be missing from rainforest species.

Kevin, you mentioned that fungi stressed by glyphosate produced an enzyme caused Agrobacterium. There are a few problems with this statement. 1) Glyphosate is a herbicide, not a fungicide. 2) This growth response occurs both with and without the application of herbicides including glyphosate. 3) Agrobacterium is not an enzyme produced by fungi but actually a separate organism entirely; a bacterium. There are many different species of Agrobacterium and they affect hosts in different ways, ranging from parasitic gall forming pathogens to forming symbiotic nitrogen fixation nodules on roots which help the plant to obtain usable nitrogen from the air rather than relying on soil.

In saying that, an insufficient application of glyphosate may cause dieback but not complete death of a plant. If only the tuber survived, this growth may occur as a result of the damage. I just don't think there's a need to evoke the relationship with glyphosate and soil microflora to explain this phenomenon.

Cheers,
Joel

[Kevin]

Kevin

[Rory]

As i have also stated earlier, which i do believe to be the most accurate of all replies:

What has happened above ????

Kevin

Kevin

I am confused by your post. If you mean, what has happened to the actual growth above the lignotuber?.. I mentioned in that post at the bottom that it was the result of the removal of the tap root, (which on a euc seedling is a substantial shock to the system):

This was purchased, then cut back and the tap root removed. It died right back to the base, then later it produced this new teeny tiny growth.
The normal young leaves can be seen atop, and I placed one on the top soil to show you the immense size difference.

As Joel has already mentioned why a Euc does this, the main trunk of the seedling has died back beacuse it couldn't be supported by the remaining root system. It was about 80cm tall when I cut it back to about 20cm, but it obviously had had so much root removed that it just couldn't support even the remaining 20cm of trunk. When you cut the tap root of a Euc seedling and reduce the roots, occasionally the seedling simply dies altogether, or it may only die back to the base because of the reduction in the root mass as a result of the repot. It then produces this flush of growth from the lignotuber, which it is designed to do as a result of damage/breakage or any significant trauma to the trunk. Casuarina / Banksia do this too, and will shoot prolifically from the base after removal of the trunk or damage or significant removal of the roots.