A Cancerous Growth on a Pine Tree?

There are stranger things in the wilderness than what the mind can imagine in the darkness of night. And this is a real thing.
On one of my hikes some years ago towards Island Lake, I spotted a strange clump of gnarly stuff clinging to the trunk of a pine tree next to the
trail about head high above the ground. Why had I never seen this before?


It was ugly, something totally alien, and was definitely not a thing that belonged on this otherwise stately pine tree. I concluded it was possibly
harmful and refrained from touching it. On that day, I made a mental note of it and kept moving on up trail. Now – more years later, I finally got around
to taking some pictures of this ugly bulging growth that was (and is) about the size of a 30 inch exercise ball one uses at home or in the gym.

Once home and viewing my downloaded pictures, I began to search the internet to discover what this thing is. Good old Bing! It didn’t take long
before I discovered the thing is called a burl.

Tree with cancer growth

The discussions below are from the internet. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tree-burls.htm
From the above website: “Experts have not pinpointed a cause. It is generally known that tree burls form when bud growth cells develop abnormally. As the
cells divide, they create a rounded shape rather than a normal tree branch. They divide in an abnormal way. As these dormant cells start
dividing in many directions, they end up creating a rounded shape rather than forming the tree limb they originally intended to grow.” 
https://sage-advices.com/what-causes-burls-on-pine-trees/#Is_a_ burl_a_tumor
From the above website:
“In human terms, it can be compared to a fast-growing but non- malignant tumor. Although burls grow into weird shapes and sizes on
trees that otherwise look normal, a burl itself is not diseased or contagious. The callus tissue that grows into a burl has several
purposes, all related to tree growth and tree preservation.”
Apparently, these burls are quite popular with wood workers who like to turn artistic bowls out of them on their wood turning lathes as well as other
artistic items made from the burls that they sell.

The two examples above were copied from internet sources under the Free Use act.

The finished bowls reveal twisted ring patterns, holes, and are used only for artful decoration.
For woodworkers who recognize this burl as a tempting piece of wood to work with, its location is inside Desolation Wilderness so it is protected by
the Wilderness Act of 1964, which means you can’t remove it.
Just for fun, I used Photoshop to enhance the photo by adjusting the Saturation level to full on and look what happened! Is this scary or what?

Happy Trails!

Read more of Bill’s Desolation Wilderness Stories