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Project Noah Nature School
Amphibolips quercusinanis
smaller than a golf ball, paper light, spiked inside
temperate forest, oak
I spotted this on the leaf of a burdock plant. I thought it was a gall at first but it wasn't attached. I've never seen anything like it. It was intact when I found it. I poked the hole in it and was really surprised to see a sharp spiked seedpod. There were no other ones around. It seemed like it fell out of a tree but there were only maples and oaks around, which makes sense after getting the ID.
Thanks for the ID Tamar and I've added it to your mission. Will add more when I have time after I get home. Your's looks a bit fresher shebebusynow.
Just for the sake of comparison, here's one of these galls found on the West Coast. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/105... And THANK YOU for finally naming them for me! I will add it to my post.
They are detachable so they are often found not attached to leaves. I have a new mission for Arthropod galls. I would love to see this (and any others you might have that are within range) added to it!
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/1473...
Growing up, walking to school through an oak forest, we had a 'thing' that you had to stomp an even number of puffballs (they give a satisfying 'pop' when stepped on) for good luck.
Thanks a lot. This answers a lot of questions. I will do some more research.
Sure looks like a puffball from an oak. The galls tend to be filled with heavy styrofoam-like filling, while the puffballs crunch easily and have these filaments inside them. The ones I grew up with were about that size and fell out of the oak trees. They are not caused by the insect that makes the gall. Anyway this might be one of them.
Spotted on Jun 27, 2011
Submitted on Jun 27, 2011
+1
