Fasciation Fascination

I happened to glance at a shrub this week and saw this oddball plant problem

FASCIATION!

This is a description of a SYMPTOM (flattened, elongated, thickened stems) but it does not tell you what caused the problem. It could be a genetic malady, a viral or phytoplasma infection, a response to an insect or mite injury, a bacterial infection, or possibly even something as banal as injury.

Is it harmful to the plant? Not usually. As you can see, it is isolated to one stem but the rest of the plant is normal. And if you saw the whole plant and the location you would probably realize this shrub has bigger problems (traffic, limited root space, drought stress, and on and on).

In fact, some plants are selected and propagated for their tendency to display this feature and it makes it way into cut flower bouquets and gardens.

Fasciation is truly fascinating!

Fasciation of a lone stem: flattened, thickened stems.

Could the injury at the base of the stem have initiated the symptom to develop? Good observation! Unfortunately, confirming the cause of fasciation is complex and technical and the presence of injury is insufficient to conclude it caused the symptoms.