Witches' broom formations are seen in this Virginia pine. The effect of witches' broom is caused by stress in trees. (Submitted photo/Curtis Young) On my cranky days some might say it’s my mode of ...

NEW YORK – Onscreen, Harry Potter can do no wrong, levitating on his broom with ease, waving his wand with gusto and spitting out spells that impress all the right wizards and witches. But in the ...

As darkness falls tonight, Lorene Couture and her family coven of witches will begin celebrating one of their year's most sacred nights. What is Halloween to legions of trick-or-treaters is Samhain -- ...

This time of year, most of the nature I observe is along the cross-country ski trails in northwestern Wisconsin. Just a few days ago, I skied over a string of fresh red fox tracks. Occasionally a ...

The term “witch’s broom” probably conjures up images of Harry Potter playing quidditch or the Wicked Witch of the West berating Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” But in the plant world, it’s something ...

Look up at trees silhouetted against the night sky on Halloween and you might see something spooky -- a witches' broom. A real witches' broom. No witch, though. Witches' broom is the name given to the ...

We often see witches’ brooms in winter when looking into the tree canopy of an otherwise barren landscape. There is an abnormal cluster of growth, with shortened stems and needles, maybe in the shape ...

To celebrate Samhain, a Wiccan festival that falls on the evening of Oct. 31, Washington, D.C. resident Elizabeth Stephens usually prepares a pot of jambalaya to honor her late grandmother and a plate ...