
Two stems of roughly equal size leaving the trunk at the same height, meeting in a narrow V instead of a rounded U. Down in the seam you see a dark, tight line of ingrown bark rather than a raised, wrinkled ridge of wood. Sometimes there's a vertical crack running down from the notch, a bulge of wood swelling out on either side, or a dark wet stain weeping from the notch after rain. Bradford and Callery pear, silver maple, and river birch often show three or four stems all leaving one point. The two stems are not actually joined. The bark caught between them prevents the wood from knitting together, so the union is held by a shell of wood on the outside with no bond running through the middle. This is a structural defect, not a disease, and the tree is usually in excellent health right up to the day it comes apart. It is the single most common reason a healthy-looking shade tree drops half of itself onto a roof.
Within weeks. Normally a tree trimming job, $250–$1,400 around Indianapolis depending on size and access.
Usually yes, and usually without removal. On a young tree — stems still under about wrist thickness at the union — an arborist shortens the weaker stem across a couple of prunings (subordination) and the tree re-establishes a single dominant leader on its own. On a mature tree the missing wood cannot be grown back, so the fix is mechanical: a cable or brace rod installed between the stems to limit how far they can spread, plus reduction pruning to take weight and wind-catch off the ends. Cables are hardware, not a cure, and need periodic re-inspection (annually is the common recommendation). Removal is the honest answer when the seam has already cracked open, when decay has hollowed the union, or when the stems are so large and so directly over a house that no hardware can hold the failure load.