Conjoined Oak Trees

[Elvis188]

My dad found these Oak trees when he was a kid. He had told me about them and finally got around showing them to me shortly before he passed in 2011. He said he had never seen a pair like them and neither have I.

as you can see one tree has grown into the other. I went to take pics yesterday and see that the cattle on the property have ringed the back on both trees and finally killed them. Kind of a shame. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen this but I thought I would share a few pics with everyone!

 

[cybball]

That is really cool. Never seen anything like that. Thanks for sharing.

 

[iowavf]

Very odd.

 

[Daver]

That is really cool. Never seen anything like that. Thanks for sharing.

X2. Too bad they are dead now, I wonder if someone purposely joined them way back?? It looks like you have a great, natural deer hanging pole.

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

Natural buck pole!

 

[203ntyp]

That is really neat. I seen a smaller scenario on two smaller oaks not far from me on a farm I hunted for 18 years but it was a much shorter distance on the limb that conjoined them.

Since those trees are dead I think I would try to cut that section out and do something crafty with it since it will rot away otherwise and no one will ever get to admire the uniqueness of what nature can display.

 

[2-bucks]

I would have built deer camp right there just so I could use it as the buck pole!

 

[Elvis188]

X2. Too bad they are dead now, I wonder if someone purposely joined them way back?? It looks like you have a great, natural deer hanging pole.

No, they weren’t purposely joined. These are along a creek about 500 yards from where I was raised. Dad would be 80 next year and he said he first saw them when driving cattle as a kid. Pretty cool deal. I hated to see they were dead when I went to take pictures!

 

[JNRBRONC]

You need to go kick a field goal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sligh1]

That's frigin cool!!!! Wow!!! How those two meshed so perfectly at branch ends is mind boggling. I've never seen that either, very cool!!!!

 

[Slick]

Very neat!!!

From the internet....

Inosculation is a natural phenomenon in which trunks, branches or roots of two trees grow together. It is biologically similar to grafting and such trees are referred to in forestry as gemels, from the Latin word meaning "a pair".[1]

It is most common for branches of two trees of the same species to grow together, though inosculation may be noted across related species. The branches first grow separately in proximity to each other until they touch. At this point, the bark on the touching surfaces is gradually abraded away as the trees move in the wind. Once the cambium of two trees touches, they sometimes self-graft and grow together as they expand in diameter. Inosculation customarily results when tree limbs are braided or pleached.