Why does my oak tree have clumps of leaves in the winter?

Question

It is December in Mississippi. Why do my oak trees have clumps of leaves?

marky1991 · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-13 18:51:01Z

17

It's hard to be certain from just the picture, but that looks like mistletoe: https://tcrcd.net/brochures/pdf/Oak_Mistletoe.pdf.

answered Dec 13 '20 at 18:51

marky1991

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1

Yes, it is mistletoe . – blacksmith37 Dec 13 '20 at 20:03
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@bill999 according to Wikipedia, mistletoe is a parasite which "extract(s) water and nutrients from the host plant". – RonJohn Dec 14 '20 at 0:30
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It needs to be removed with a golden sickle :-) – Carl Dec 14 '20 at 10:24
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@bill999 the document linked in this answer answers this, although I believe best practice is for answers not to rely on information contained in external links so these details should probably be included. I think the trees pictured above probably count as trees that are heavily infested that will eventually die if the infected branches aren't removed. – Will Dec 14 '20 at 12:41
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Well, its definitely mistletoe, and as @Carl mentions, it does need to be removed. But, though it has been a few years since I lived there, I believe in Mississippi, the standard method of removal is with a gun. And you do need to hurry, or you will run out of your opportunity to sell it. – Glen Yates Dec 14 '20 at 22:19

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