A friend of mine has this popping up on a few of the plum trees in his orchard - are we looking at Mistletoe? If so, which one - I'm only familiar with the North American species and although this one has similar leaves, I'm stumped as to where to place it, since the fruits are so odd. Also, any opinion on whether it's doing more harm than good? I understand that Mistletoes are keystone species, and neither he nor I want to disturb the ecosystem of the orchard. At the same time, if it's going to eventually kill the tree, we need to remove it. Thanks!
Surely these are flower buds or other parts belonging to the tree itself, which is not a plum in the sense of Prunus spp. Notice how they are all similar in size and orientation, and all coming from the same points on the branches, rather than being of different sizes due to different ages and levels of development - and coming out of the (tops of) the branches wherever having landed and pierced the branches (as plants called mistletoe in North America would do).
Hi Lorax, could it be a species of Phoradendron, a closely related genus in the Viscaceae? I reckon anything that large is having a significant impact on the host tree....so I suppose it depends how badly your friend wants lots of plums !! Boa sorte Brian
Ron, I'm 100% sure that the trees are Prunus japonica. The photos show only the parasite. Brian, I was leaning towards Phoradendron as well. It's only affecting one branch, so we may leave that one be, but if it spreads or gets signficiantly larger, it's going to have to go.
