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Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs
June 30, 2008
CELERY FARM: Monday morning mystery
I call this stuff mystery crud.
It’s under the leaves on that gangly tree near the Warden’s watch.
I know I should know what it is — eggs of some kind?
But I don’t…
Can anyone help? Thanks!
ER
5 comments
-
Tom knows!!
-
Wow.
Thanks,
Jim -
Ok, after personally examining and dissecting one of the “brown crud” specimens, I’ll take a semi-educated guess and further damage my already shaky reputation and call it a Cockscomb gall, caused by a little aphid that lays its eggs in the leaf, causing the leaf to grow a hollow “tumor” in which the baby aphids grow–then escape through the back of the leaf. These were a little browner than the photos I found, so the ID is very tentative!
Tom, the Tentative Taxonomist -
Looks like some kind of fungus or other parasite. Maybe rust?
-
After messing up on the last mystery (see my correction comment) I’m not taking any wild guesses about the mystery crud. The gangly tree is an elm (slippery, I think) but I won’t go down the slippery slope toward tentative taxonomy of those brown lumps. My inclination is toward virus infection or galls–but stop me before I make a fool of myself–again. 🙂
Tom, the Tentative Taxonomist
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5 comments
Deedee Burnside
Tom knows!!
jim wright
Wow.
Thanks,
Jim
Tom Burr
Ok, after personally examining and dissecting one of the “brown crud” specimens, I’ll take a semi-educated guess and further damage my already shaky reputation and call it a Cockscomb gall, caused by a little aphid that lays its eggs in the leaf, causing the leaf to grow a hollow “tumor” in which the baby aphids grow–then escape through the back of the leaf. These were a little browner than the photos I found, so the ID is very tentative!
Tom, the Tentative Taxonomist
John
Looks like some kind of fungus or other parasite. Maybe rust?
Tom Burr
After messing up on the last mystery (see my correction comment) I’m not taking any wild guesses about the mystery crud. The gangly tree is an elm (slippery, I think) but I won’t go down the slippery slope toward tentative taxonomy of those brown lumps. My inclination is toward virus infection or galls–but stop me before I make a fool of myself–again. 🙂
Tom, the Tentative Taxonomist