<\/a>A female dwarf mistletoe bears ripening fruit that will eject sticky seeds. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Other infections can also cause brooms. Certain Taphrina fungi make brooms on birch and cherry trees. A powdery mildew fungus makes brooms on oaks. Mites and viruses also can cause brooms, as well as bacteria-like intracellular parasites called phytoplasmas that cause diseases of deciduous trees, which can lead to broom formation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The infections that lead to broom formation don’t do the host trees any good, of course — growth and reproduction can be seriously impaired. But animals can make use of the brooms. Spiders and insects find shelter there. Flying squirrels can nest in dwarf mistletoe brooms, and sometimes chickadees and wrens may do so too; marbled murrelets can use those brooms as nesting platforms.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
A local photographer found an interesting specimen washed up on a local beach. It was a good-sized giant Pacific chiton, sometimes called a gumboot (although that name is also applied to some other chitons). It was probably moribund. This specimen was maybe about eight inches long, but they are known to reach a length of 14 inches, weighing up to four and a half pounds. They live in the lower intertidal and subtidal zones of the North Pacific, as deep as 20 meters or more, commonly clinging to rocks, but apparently they can be knocked off by heavy wave action. A muscular foot underneath the mantle provides locomotion and rock-clinging ability. They are reported to be able to breathe air, if their gills (between the girdle and the foot) are moist.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
This species is the biggest chiton in the world. Its proper name is Cryptochiton stelleri, “crypto” referring to the fact that its hard dorsal plates (or valves) are covered by a leathery girdle or mantle that covers the entire back, so the plates don’t show at all (except in young juveniles). The plates are made mostly of a form of calcium carbonate, not at all like vertebrate bones. The leathery girdle often has a reddish color, due mostly to red algae living on it, although we have sometimes found small specimens that were not that color.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t