I'd call it a branch. If you consider a tree-very simplified here-as a cone, over which a new cone of tissue grows each year, you can begin to visualize that any branch, sucker, water sprout, whatever you care to call it, will eventually be locked in tight by these newer layers of wood.
I think that the most common understanding of epicormic growth is that they are weakly attached sprouts or shoots, and not what are commonly recognized as "branches".
Epicormic growth is typically considered as potentially hazardous, as these sprouts have not evolved with the young sapling, but emerge from dormant buds under the bark.
Edited to welcome Endocormic to the Trees Forum!
Other names are suckers, water sprouts, shoots. When they emerge from the wounds of topped trees, I call them hairy knuckles, lol.
This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Wed, Jan 28, 15 at 9:55
Yes, but what I said!...Given sufficient time, these "weakly attached" hazards are locked in tight as can be. That idea you reference, Rhizo, has been superseded by a new way of thinking about these things. Ten or more years ago, I would have too described them that way. Mostly, modern thinking is that in time, they will be as good as any other branch.
None of which should be construed to indicate a liking or acceptance on my part of "topped" trees or any other practice which results in an explosion of such sprouts. The other side of that coin is, if you are pruning a tree with suckers, try to retain as many as you can without leading to poor, congested structure. Trees respond to branch/foliage loss by making new branches/foliage. So if you go at it too heavy-handedly, you may well be perpetuating the problem.
A great % of our forests are made up of trees composed of what was once an epicormic sprout. Rabbits, voles, deer etc are pretty good at nibbling down small trees/shrubs but they usually recover if left alone and in time make up the mature forest as we see it currently. It is in their DNA.
Now water sprouts ect on already large trees are a whole different animal with regards to pruning and healing.
Have a look at the link below when you have time =)
wisconsitom
endocormicOriginal Author
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