The branch attachment model set out by Alex Shigo in the Canadian Journal of Botany is 25 years old this year. Despite the model's wide use in arboricultural literature, it can be shown by simple logical argument to be erroneous. Ongoing investigations into the nature and strength of branch attachments at Myerscough College and the University of Manchester have highlighted the need for a new anatomical model for these attachments to inform research. Arguments against Shigo's model are given and a new model is offered that considers the mechanical and conducting functions of xylem and its ontogenesis.
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Slater et al. (2010) studied this question.
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