oak gall

Description:

This puffball-type gall is a little over an inch across, spotted and thin-skinned, resulting in a satisfying crunch when stomped (from a kid's perspective, at least).

Habitat:

Bottomland with mixed forest of oak, ash, bigleaf maple, etc. The insect responsible for this gall sets up housekeeping on the oak leaf.

Notes:

It's full common name didn't seem to fit easily above: It's the 'Larger Empty Oak Apple Wasp.' I guess that makes these galls actually 'oak apples'. I've never seen (or at least recognized) the wasp that's responsible for these.