The love life of the brown oak apple gall wasp makes human teenage romance routines seem positivly elegant by comparison. I love your description of the male flying off in search of love while the female digs herself in.

My most galling plants are the woody ones that turn out to be grafts. I've probably compained about this before, but there's nothing as disappointing as having to remove something lovely like Hamamelis 'Jelena' just when it has come into its own and is finally large enough to put on a good show, which happened to be the same year the rootstock decided to stage a comeback. I just finished cutting it to the ground and will put a pot over the stump or find some other way to discourage that nasty but every hardy rootstock from sending up more stems.

I've got a couple of others on death watch, including a very prominently placed seedless sweetgum ((Liquidambar styraciflua) 'Rotundiloba' that has great rounded leaves except the pointy ones that keep appearing at the base of the tree, and a lovely viburnum whose name escapes me at the moment.

I learned lots about oak galls I didn't know; where did you find all this info, KT?

I don't get galls on any garden plants that I've noticed, but in addition to the oak leaf galls, the wild goldenrod around here gets stem galls which are slightly elongated spheres about an inch in diameter. The leaves and stem above the gall grow in an odd-looking tuft. These galls are much firmer than the oak leaf galls and are solidly filled with a stiff foam-like substance, with only a tiny hollow in the center for the grub. In OH where I grew up there was a maple leaf gall that was tiny (1/8" high), and looked like a cow horn sticking up out of the leaf. Sometimes there would be as many as a dozen on one leaf. I don't recall seeing that in NH.

With regards to your PS - Currently I'm finding that I'm still in the somewhat frantic mode of trying to get the garden ready for winter, cleaning up leaves and the weeds that are hiding under them, tucking in a few final perennials and mulching. This is also a great time of year to be removing invasives from the woods since both the honeysuckle shrubs and the buckthorn hold onto their leaves later, making them easy to spot, along with the bittersweet due to its berries. Once the snow flies or the ground freezes, I'll probably be spending more time online.

Grunt...I've read and found your post very informative, but haven't much to contribute! I find these galls from time to time, walking out in the woods, but have never noticed them in yard. Do these gall occur on certain species of Oaks or all Oaks? Do they damage the trees?

Grunt, y'all (from KY).

Nice write up on our winged friends. I'm sure you found that there are LOTS of different species of gall wasps and other gall-forming fauna. Oaks seem to harbor more than their share of interesting looking individuals.

Around here, the ones that fascinate me form a spherical gall that is pinkish white and spongy. I think this one cohabitates with red oaks. That'll freak you out the first time you come across it.

The worst galls form along woody stems, where they can cut off circulation, or weaken branches enough that significant canopy loss is possible. Shingle oaks are often fraught with these, and sometimes I see them on pin oak.

There is a cute little horned gall that shows up on witch hazels; I don't know if that is what DTD is referring to, but it certainly isn't a life-threatening condition.

Anyone that doesn't have one, ought to seek out one of Sinclair & Lyons Insects that Feed on Trees and Shrubs. It'll give you hours of winter reading enjoyment, or a sure cure for insomnia (and some interesting dreams).

This is the famous apple-cedar rust gall, Gymnosporangium juniperii which is a gall produced by a fungus:

{{gwi:1097614}}

I'm not sure why this is considered a gall, defined on wikipedia as "abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues ... can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects and mites." So is the gall actually plant tissue run amok, or any growth that appears on a plant? This looks like it's all fungus, not plant tissue per se, but I'm not sure.

Nhbabs,
I was sorry to read about your injury I certainly hope your kiddos arenÂt taking advantage of your lack of speed!!
I learned lots about oak galls I didn't know; where did you find all this info, KT?
Back in October I read a great article in my local news paper the Vineyard Gazette by Suzan Bellincampi titled A Lot of Gall at the same time that I was doing yard clean up under a stand of Oaks (black, red, and pin). Her article which included a quote (though grim) from Thoreau, encouraged me to read further and read I did but I am afraid I did not take notes on resources I will say how ever all of the info was repetitive with the exception of the timing of the wasp leaving the oak apple gall, Bellincampi reported the timing was no later than Memorial Day where other sources stated this happened as late as Mid-July.
Terrene,
Do these gall occur on certain species of Oaks or all Oaks? Do they damage the trees?
From what I understand the oak apple gall can occur on all Oaks but it is more likely to be found on black and red oaks. Although some galls as VV pointed out can cause damage to its host but I donÂt believe the oak apple gall causes any type of extreme damage.
VV,
The worst galls form along woody stems, where they can cut off circulation, or weaken branches enough that significant canopy loss is possible
Hmm.. this made me think of the hard reddish galls that I find on my (32+) blueberries? It sounds as though this might be the cause of branch die back that I have yet to diagnose.
Thanks for the book referral Sinclair & Lyons Insects that Feed on Trees and Shrubs sounds like a must have for any library.
DtD,
Glad you brough this one up a while ago I lost a beautiful cedar and the tree guy attributed it to Gymnosporangium juniperii I wonder if that was likely? Have you had any problems with it?

I noticed there were some weird orange growths on my Serviceberry, where a normal berry should be there was a bloated furry orange berry instead. I know that Amelanchier is in the Rose family is susceptible to assorted diseases that plague Roses and other fruit trees. By far most of the berries were normal, but a few looked like this pic.

So do you think this is some kind of gall?

{{gwi:1097617}}

Terrene, on the wikipedia entry on galls, there is a link to a table listing all sorts of Gymnosporangium, including 8 that have amelanchier as the secondary host. This fungus seems to be more damaging to the secondary hosts, by the way, the junipers are not severely impacted as far as I know.

It's one reason I gave away my little amelanchier, since I have a few nice junipers I wanted to keep.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gymnosporangium

Grunt. I most always check out new threads as long as not overly busy with work/life/gardening, especially yours.

I have a no-name azalea that gets a gall after wet springs. Doesn't seem to bother it, but I try to stay on top of it.

Wendy, azalea galls generaly considering non-fatal, but rather cosmeticaly unpleasant fungus.
However severe infestation may kill young plants.
Fungicide treatement should be done in spring before flowering to have a best effect.
All Girards hybrids are highly succeptible to azalea gall.

This morning I saw this structure on my Itea virginica Henry's Garnet. I don't think it's a gall, it looks like some insect wrapped itself and the stem in brown paper. Does anyone know what it is?

I was surprised how different the same leaves looked when they were backlit (first photo) and frontlit (second photo).

Claire

well hi,
I never knew what those brown spheres were. Guess I thought it was some old seed or fruit. Learned a lot on this thread.
I check the posts about every other day. I do get bummed when there's not much activity seems I only read garden web lately.

Annette

Claire, that looks like a Praying mantis egg case. Love the colors of the Itea!

AnneteWelcome and thanks very much for posting when it is quiet I sometimes wonder if anyone is out there or am I writing in a private journal.
Claire, you are so lucky, one of my nurseries looks for egg casings on their stock in the fall and brings them into the green houses as a part of their IPM (Integrated Pest Management)plan. If you are looking for a companion for you Itea I discovered purely by accident that Viburnum plicatum 'Popcorn' is a stunning partner in the fall.

Praying mantis egg case! Thanks, terrene (I figured you'd know). I did see a praying mantis in that general area in late August this year. If the birds don't get the eggs, I may have hundreds next year (hee..hee..hee).

KT: That's a very difficult corner - mostly in the shade of the house and at the edge of a snow slide roof zone, if we ever get snow again. I'd hate to condemn a nice viburnum there. The two iteas have the only semi-safe and partly sunny area.

Claire