CAN TREES GET CANCER?

CONTENT WRITING

Slide 1.
Growing in the lap of nature – trees and plants: have you ever wondered if they
suffer from diseases like us? The answer would be YES. The plants and tress
too undergo the agony of cancer.
Slide2.
The good news for plants is that even though they’re susceptible to cancer,
they’re less vulnerable to its effects. The tumours they do get do not metastasize
because plant cells don’t move around.” Rather, they are held in place by cell
walls. But it can be harmful and disruptive to host tree and plant
Slide3 .
Witches’ Broom-A common type of cancer-like growth is simply a proliferation of abnormal
growth due to disruption of the vascular system that forms on a woody plant, usually on twigs
near the branch ends. It’s named witches’ broom because the abnormal growth resembles a
broom head, with many short branches coming out of a common point.

Galls- disorganized growths or tumors that can form on most parts of trees and arecaused by
bacteria, viruses, insects, and other organisms. Once the proliferation begins they continue to
grow even in the absence of original organism due to mutations in the genetics of the tree’s cells
at the point of infection or attack.

Slide 4.
Burls- woody galls that grow on tree stems, and especially on tree trunks and they grow
relatively slowly, because their disorganized growth I,e cannot develop a normal vascular
system; therefore, they do not get enough water and nutrients to grow quickly. 

Fasciations- form similarly to galls and witches’ broom, but their growth proliferation takes
place in two dimensions resulting in a flattened shoot, often growing profusely.

Slide 5.
The similarities and the differences
Like cancers, they continue to grow until the plant they attach to can no longer support them. As
they disrupt the vascular system, and so they break off or lose their source of water and other
materials needed to survive. This is very similar to the way that some animal cancers harm or kill
—by physically disrupting plant parts and by disrupting blood flow (though sometimes they cause
extra blood flow to an area to "feed" the cancer).
The main difference between plant cancers and animal cancers is that they cannot easily spread
to other parts of the plant or other plants

Slide 6
To get rid of a plant cancer, you prune the tumors or growths off below their point of attachment.
Usually, they won't come back but it may be difficult to determine where to cut to minimize
damage to the remaining tree.

Slide 7/ 1.
Lodhi Garden – one of the most famous garden where you must have visited. But do you
know:
A mango tree located in the heart of Lodhi garden which has stood the test of time is nearing its end
due to the canker disease, or “tree cancer as stated by a gardener who has been in Lodhi Gardens
for 34 years recalls the mango tree in full bloom, before it was hit by disease.

The tree stands north of the Shish Gumbad almost mirroring its magnificence. Of all the trees in
Lodhi Garden, this mango tree found a spot in a list of 16 ‘heritage’ and has witnessed the changing
times.