These fuzzy things appeared on the undersides of the leaves on one of mom's trees just within the last week. I took photos of one of them, then took it apart to see what was inside. The fuzzy covering feels like wool, dense and fuzzy.
This fuzzy thing is about 1.5" long.
This message was edited Sep 7, 2007 2:00 AM
I removed the leaf tissue from beneath the fuzz. You can see the fuzz continues around to the main vein on the leaf, but did not go through to the other side; it was just on the surface of the leaf, anchored along that middle vein.
This message was edited Sep 7, 2007 2:01 AM
The fuzz came off in tufts, revealing not eggs, but objects with a sort of cone shape to them. Weird!
Are these cocoons? Fungi? They're very interesting, especially the fuzzy enclosure they were in!
She didn't know if these were friends or foes, so she removed affected leaves and set them aside. If foes and unwanted, anyway, it would be interesting to open them and get pictures at various points over the next few weeks.
This message was edited Sep 7, 2007 1:55 AM
By the way, does anyone recognize the host plant? We don't know what kind of shrub/tree it is, either. Here's a shot of the leaf's top side.
No ideas? Maybe I should have this moved to Garden Pests and Diseases.
This message was edited Sep 7, 2007 6:15 PM
Ewwww. Don't know what it is but I remember seeing fuzzy spots like that on oak leaves growing up. Ick!
i think that's some kind of oak gall.
That looks like you have trouble with tribbles. Strange!
Tribbles, yeah exactly! Is that an oak leaf, Track?
it could be an oak. people usually think of oaks with the divided leaves but some look like yours. maybe post this on trees forum. i know that oaks do get a fuzzy gall sometimes.
Oh, trees forum -- I didn't think of that. I did post in the plant identification forum, though.
Hi gardenwife:
I'll land in trackinsand's camp -- some kind of oak gall, usually formed by an itinerant wasp laying eggs for symbiotic development.
Without more than just one leaf, I can only hazard a positive ID -- but that looks a lot like a leaf from a shingle oak (Quercus imbricaria).
Take a look at (or google for) hedgehog gall. This is formed by the action of Acraspis erinacei. This is but one of the wooly-type galls formed on leaves, stems, or twigs by a variety of insects.
There are several other wooly galls that look somewhat like your photo. Some others to investigate include:
•Andricus laniger, a cynipid wasp which causes wooly leaf galls
•Andricus fullawayi, another cynipid wasp
lol, tell me when you're landing so i can turn on the outside lights!
