Okay so I was out taking Christmas lights down and I noticed the oak trees the builder planted
had these little lumps growing on the upper branches. They look sorta fused to the branches.
Any clue what this could be?
(P.S. If someone tells me they're acorns, I'm going to feel really dumb.)
Galls - They are fairly common. http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef408.asp
http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/gallsOnOak.htm
not a very clear pic there JM ......what kind of Oak tree do you have there?
james t
I believe it is a live oak.
I took a couple of other pictures this morning. Hopefully this will help with a definitive id.
Here's another
One more.
Like Farmerdill said: They're galls. Especially common on live oaks.
Karen
Thank You! Is it normal for there to be a bunch of them?
Most of the oaks I see have tons of them.
Ok great. So nothing to worry about then :-) Thanks for your help.
They are the Gall Wasps that grow commonly on oaks, these wasps are really tiny and nothing like the wasps we all flee from as we are afraid they will sting us, the parent lays her eggs on the upper oak branches normally, and the little mite stays inside the tiny marble/apple looking thing till it matures, they dont usually harm the trees unless there are hundreds of them, I dont use any killers on the ones on our oaks, sometimes if I can reach them, I just knock them off. But be warned, there are some oaks that do actually have Acorns that shape, but dark brown. good luck. Weenel.
