70 J. SAUNDERS witches' BROOMS. 



The references to this disease of the hawthorn which have 

 come under the writer's notice are as follows : — " Exoascus 

 Gratxiji, Fuck., occurs on Cratxgus Oxyacantha, and causes red 

 swellings on the leaves and flowers, accompanied l:»y hypertrophy 

 of shoots, in which the mycelium pereunates " (Tubeuf, 

 'Diseases of Plants,' p. 166). '" Tcvphrma Cratiegi, Sadeb., 

 Exoascus buUatus /i Crateegi, Fuckel, affects the leaves of 

 hawthorn and fruits. May to June" (' Bot. Zeitung,' 1895). 



Elder {Sambuctis nigra, L.). — A growt.h analogous to the 

 subject under consideration was first noticed in March, 1904, on 

 an elder at Round Green, near Luton, at the corner where the road 

 turns for Stopsley. The tree was an old one, certainly over fifty 

 years of age, and a gardener living in an adjoining cottage stated 

 that seventeen years previovisly he had cut back all the branches 

 to the main stem, and that the peculiar growth on the tree first 

 appeared about 1899. The broom (or rake) occurred on one of 

 the principal branches, which curved downwards; and from it, 

 rising erect over a length of three or four feet, were a number 

 of curious growths, somewhat resembling candelabra. Most of 

 them were thicker than the liranch from which they proceeded. 

 They wei*e also spindle-shaped, the thickest portion being a short 

 distance above the point of origin. 



On a subsequent examination of the tree it was found that 

 these abnormal l^ranches were all dead, and had been so for 

 some time, as decortication had commenced on most of them. 

 By the aid of a field-glass it coidd be seen that the lenticels on 

 them were much larger than those on the normal l)ranches. 

 This curious growth formed a conspicuous object both in 

 summer and winter. 



In none of the books to which the writer has access are there any 

 references to this disease of the elder, but judging from analogy 

 it is fairly safe to assume that it is caused by a parasitic fungus. 



The phenomenon is certainly rare, as although many thousands 

 of elders have been examined dtu'ing the last two years in this 

 and other parts of the country, none of them has been seen with 

 similar growths. It is, however, within my recollection that 

 some twenty-five years ago an exactly similar development was 

 observed on an elder-tree, and although the precise locality is 

 forgotten it was somewhere in South Beds or North Herts. 



Common Elm (JJlmus camjjestris, Sm.). — A fine example of 

 Witches' Broom occurs on a large ehn-tree in the ' Poplar Field,' 

 Limbury. It grows on a lateral branch, about three feet from 

 the main stem, its dimensions being about eighteen inches in 

 height and nine inches in thickness. It forms an irregidar 

 cylinder, the external part consisting of a dense growth of erect 

 twigs, a small proportion of which are living and the remainder 

 dead. The central part is hollow, and contains dead leaves and 

 fragments of twigs. 



On 24th April, 1904, an examination of this tree showed that 

 the leafintj both of the broom and the normal branches was 



