Spangle Galls
This fallen oak leaf is covered in galls. They look like they’re caused by Neuroterus quercusbaccarum, which has injected eggs and produced …
Lime Nail Galls
Those look like Lime trees. I’m not sure though. They’re in the grounds of Forde House, a luxury Jacobean manor house in …
Cherries on an Oak
There are Cherry Galls, Cynips quercusfolii, on this fallen Oak leaf. Inside each are tiny wasp larvae, protected by the Oak’s reaction to …
A fortress on the stalk of a leaf
It doesn’t look like much. After all, it’s just a bulge on a stalk of a leaf, scattered on the pavement in …
Have you seen my peduncle?
English Oaks take 40 years to produce their first acorns and don’t reach ‘peak acorn’ until they are 100 years old.
Cherries growing on Oak trees
There are Cherry Galls, Cynips quercusfolii, on the fallen Oak leaves here in Bridford Wood. They are the tree’s defensive reaction to …
The Medusa of the Oak
The Oak Medusa Gall, Andricus caputmedusae.
Spangles
It’s forty years since I first saw and photographed spangle galls on an oak tree. I noted it down in my Nature …
Robin’s Pincushions on Wild Roses
The ability of life to survive in the harshest of climates is remarkable. We’re walking at 1,500m above sea level and winters …