Question
Hi, I am a professional gardener in central California and I'd like to try to describe a phenomenon that I've seen occur in a number of different plants, specifically citrus, francoa and asiatic lilies.  It is something that affects the branches or stems.  Some of the branches or stems of the affected plant grow in a very irregular fashion, often curly.  It also affects the size and shape of the leaves growing from the branches or stems; they grow much finer and more deeply cut.  On citrus trees it is actually kind of beautiful.  The stems look as if they are flattened out and fused together.  The whole effect is freaky, like a celosia flower. On asiatic lilies, it causes the stems to grow several inches wide and flat, and there are about three times as many blooms, all coming out of the stem in all the same place.  It truly does seem that there are many stems fused together. I first suspected it was the strange growth that occurs with mite damage.  Then, years ago I read an article in a gardening magazine the described this perfectly and characterized it as more of a phenomenon than a disease or insect problem.  But unfortunately I cannot remember what the article said it was!  Can you help me identify this?

Answer
Lesley:
Several things can cause these distortions including the microorganisms such as viruses, phytoplasmas, and mycoplasmas.  Feeding by certain mites (small arthropods)and even a genetic mutation that may have occurred randomly. Terms like Fasciation and Fasciculation have been used for various growth abnormalities- some of which the cause is not known. Your plants would probably have to be examined by an electron microscope capable of magnifying severeal thousands of times the normal size to see these entities.

Hope this helps. Thanks for your inquiry!
Steve