Botanical Nerd Word: Deliquescent branching

Deliquescent branching: A mode of branching in trees in which the trunk divides into many branches leaving no central axis, as in elms.*

Many deciduous trees have deliquescent branching patterns.

*Burns, Russell M. and Barbara H. Honkala, tech. coords. Silvics of North America, vol 2. Hardwoods ; Glossary. Agriculture handbook no.654. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, 1990. p.835-845.