Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Deciduous Trees > Hackberry > Dense clusters of twigs
Hackberry > Branches/Trunk > Dense clusters of twigs
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Witches' broom gall
Podosphaera phytoptophila and Eriophyes celtis
- Proliferation of small branches and twigs bunched together at the ends of branches
- Clusters of twigs develop from a single point on the branch
- Symptoms are caused by the interaction of a disease and mite
- Damage is most noticeable after leaves have fallen
- More information on Witches' broom gall
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Deicing salt injury
- Soil salt damage causes leaf edges or margins to appear burnt or scorched progressing toward the mid-vein
- Salt spray causes branch growth to become tuft-like (a.k.a. witches' broom)
- Run-off salt kills roots which results in die-back of most branches
- Affected trees leaf out later than other non-infected trees
- Damage most noticeable in spring and into the summer growing season
- More information on Deicing salts
