Bill Freedman said:

Hello,

I've got a 3 year-old Live Oak....in the North Dallas area.....and in
the last month..a sort of bulbous, black, growth has begun to appear.
Can anyone identify what this might be? My neighbor (whom may be a bit
paranoid) was thinking "Sudden Oak Death"..but I'm under impression
that that has not really hit my area....

I've posted some photos...

http://jimwalter.zapto.org/tree/tree.html

Any help would be appreciated...

I think your oak is infested with some sort of scale insect.

Scale is usually treated with a dormant oil spray (too late for that), but
there may be some sort of systemic insecticide that could control them.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/e...update/jan04/H
orticulturoils.html

(to avoid line-wrap, use http://tinyurl.com/gcwuz)

If your tree is small enough and you are determined to protect it, you
could actually go through and pull off all the visible adult scales, then
wash the tree down with insecticidal soap and rinse. Then next
winter be sure to give it a dormant oil treatment.

I know one person who gave up the fight and removed a scale infested
magnolia tree.

I managed to eliminate a scale infestation from a small plum tree, but
it's never been a particularly healthy tree even after that.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)