Live Oak problems?????

[Brian L Gautreau]

Heh, I think I have the right group (please dont flame me to bad if i
dont).

Can anyone help identify what might be causing several branches of my
trees to produce a "bulb" type area on the branches? I have pics of
the trees and the questionable areas at
http://www.gautreau.org/trees.php. If this is a disease, is it a
cureable thing from this stage? I have 2 trees, and they both seem to
have this problem, and they actually always have had the bulbs since
they were planted around 1.5 years ago.

Thanks for the input. Please let me know if I need to provide more
information.

Best Regards,

Brian L Gautreau

[Christopher Green]

(Brian L Gautreau) wrote in message >...
> Heh, I think I have the right group (please dont flame me to bad if i
> dont).
>
> Can anyone help identify what might be causing several branches of my
> trees to produce a "bulb" type area on the branches? I have pics of
> the trees and the questionable areas at
> http://www.gautreau.org/trees.php. If this is a disease, is it a
> cureable thing from this stage? I have 2 trees, and they both seem to
> have this problem, and they actually always have had the bulbs since
> they were planted around 1.5 years ago.
>
> Thanks for the input. Please let me know if I need to provide more
> information.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Brian L Gautreau

Galls. They're byproducts of the tree defending itself against certain
wasps. Live oak is noted for its tendency to form these. Trees
normally outgrow the problem. The entomology department at Texas A&M
is a center of research on gall wasps.

--
Chris Green

[o8TY]

FWIW:

The wasps may be the type that produces the scarlet dye used by the ancient
Greeks to dye their wool (eg Spartan military cloaks) similar to the
cochineal (GK kokkos = scarlet) insect.

--
o8TY
"Christopher Green" > wrote in message
m...
> (Brian L Gautreau) wrote in message
>...
> > Heh, I think I have the right group (please dont flame me to bad if i
> > dont).
> >
> > Can anyone help identify what might be causing several branches of my
> > trees to produce a "bulb" type area on the branches? I have pics of
> > the trees and the questionable areas at
> > http://www.gautreau.org/trees.php. If this is a disease, is it a
> > cureable thing from this stage? I have 2 trees, and they both seem to
> > have this problem, and they actually always have had the bulbs since
> > they were planted around 1.5 years ago.
> >
> > Thanks for the input. Please let me know if I need to provide more
> > information.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> >
> > Brian L Gautreau
>
> Galls. They're byproducts of the tree defending itself against certain
> wasps. Live oak is noted for its tendency to form these. Trees
> normally outgrow the problem. The entomology department at Texas A&M
> is a center of research on gall wasps.
>
> --
> Chris Green