Mystery Thing #1

Thing

These weird spiky things are growing on one of the trees near our building. The tree is probably a cedar, possibly a juniper. We were pretty sure that the things weren’t actually part of the tree, so we wondered if they were insects, fungi, or body-snatching aliens. After a lot of research, Faithful Reader finally found the answer to the mystery. Do you want to know what it is? If so, the answer is in the comments.

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2 Responses to Mystery Thing #1

  1. chick says:

    The spiky things are galls caused by Cedar-Apple Rust, a fungus with a two-part life cycle that involves cedar (or juniper) and apple trees. Wet weather will cause the galls to swell, pushing out the spikes, which are actually gelatinous. At some point, these things are going to look like disgusting orange Koosh balls. I’ll post new pictures when that happens.

  2. chick says:

    I am sad to say that Faithful Reader, in his desire to save the apples, cut down the trees with the offending galls and so I have no Koosh-ball pictures to share 🙁

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