I found this the other day in a retirement neighborhood. I will take scions next week for grafting and rooting. Very exciting.
Re: Witches broom in 'Sango Kuku' I wonder if you will find it different from the existing plants of this type. Once you have a graft going, it would be fun to put it side by side with the dwarf and semi-dwarf red barks and see how they compare. I am not sure I can think of any that grow as compact as what you are seeing on that tree, many of them grow farily narrow and compact up to a shot height. Nice find!
Re: Witches broom in 'Sango Kuku' I see the parent tree has alot of deadwood and there is some dieback on the broom itself, maybe that is why the broom is there--the tree is diseased and produced a proliferous growth as a part of the syndrome. If you can get clean budwood and get it to take, build up stock and get it on the market it will probably become a noteworty introduction--if it remains stable.
Congratulations on your find; you are lucky as well to already have experience grafting. Is there any indication by the look of the witch's broom in the host tree that it my have the look and growth pattern of A. circinatum 'Little Gem', that is maybe 3' x 3' at maturity with leaves smaller than the host? Or can one never really know until a witch's broom is propagated to grow on its own? Spellcheck: kaku. (Once one has given a title to a thread and submitted it, can one edit within one's own settings, or does it require an administrator? I always just ask them to do it.) Would you like to call this little guy A. palmatum 'Kuku'? Just a thought.
Re: Witches broom in 'Sango Kuku' 'Little Gem' is affected by rootstocks used, I have seen plants in nurseries well over my head. Probably the same problem as with dwarf conifers growing out of character when grafted.
Re: Witches broom in 'Sango Kuku' The parent tree looks about fifteen years old, the poor thing has been sheared yearly by its owner, that amount of dead wood is not too uncommon with a coral bark. As for the broom, the leafs look very similar to ‘fjellheim’; it also has the red bark in summer like 'fjellheim'. It may be too similar of a plant to introduce, but only time will tell. Typically, when brooms are grafted they exhibit different characteristics from that of the parent plant, usually more vigor. So, i could become more upright like 'fjellheim'. I will try to root some cuttings also, which should offer similar characteristic to that of the broom. All in all i think this will be a fun project, and hope it is worth naming and introducing. P.S. i cant edit the Kuku, sorry
