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The witch's broom tree in Marcy Woods was taken down rec...

witch's broom tree will be missed
By Earl Plato, When Nature Calls
Columns
May 09, 2008
It's gone!

The witch's broom of Marcy Woods is gone.

On April 15, the Eastern Hemlock bearing the anomaly was cut down by the local Canadian hydro people.

Why? It stood in the way of a new power line.

Look at my photo. See the ball of branches on the upper limbs? An air borne virus years ago landed on the tree.

The result was the hemlock's reaction by growing many little hemlock shoots. Think of the Japanese bonsai culture in which trees are miniaturized. One Buffalo naturalist told me, "Earl, that witch's broom up there is valuable, they're miniature hemlocks."

The neighbour Dunns, daughter Allison and I went to Marcy Woods to see the wood frogs and hear their mating quacking sounds.

We did. Beautiful day, but alas the end of a friend, the witch's broom.