Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!spool.mu.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!percy!m2xenix!quagga!proxima!olsa99!iosys!chris From: chris@iosys.UUCP (Chris Martinus) Newsgroups: sci.bio Subject: Re: Cancer in plants? Message-ID: <925@iosys.UUCP> Date: 2 May 91 13:07:47 GMT Article-I.D.: iosys.925 References: <3442@beguine.UUCP> <7412@harrier.ukc.ac.uk> Organization: Io Systems (Pty) Ltd Lines: 30 In article , ccfj@hippo.ru.ac.za (F.F. Jacot Guillarmod) writes: > >In article <3442@beguine.UUCP> rhunt@med.unc.edu (Rick Hunt) writes: > >>Several days ago on the way to work I saw a strange growth on a tree. It > >>had what looked like dozens of twigs growing from one spot. At first I > >>thought it was a bird's nest, but it started sprouting leaves with the > >>arrival of spring. Then I started to wonder if it would be a kind of cancer. > >>So now it is stupid question time: Do plants get cancer? If they do, > >>what does it look like? > > Could this growth be mistletoe? It tends to make trees supporting it > look a bit odd. If this is the case, then it isn't cancer, but a > parasite. It probably was a parasitic plant, judging from the description. I have had a similar problem with some trees of the "wag-'n-bietjie" variety (don't ask me what their scientific name is) which formed grossly thickened and deformed portions which would eventually be attacked by insects, fungi, etc and then die off. Surprisingly, no "expert" at a nursery has been able to identify this apparently cancerous growth on the trees. A little research I've done myself seems to indicate that the problem is actually a viral infection of the tree. So there you have it - what you saw was either a parasite, or a virus. -- Chris Martinus chris@iosys