I have an unidentifiable insect(?) in my flowerbed. I've been
searching the web and these posts for days but haven't found anything.

I first noticed some very small black things on the leaves of some of
the plants. They can be scratched off. They are round and flat and
hard. Then I noticed these cone shaped things almosts covering the
dirt in the bed. At first I thought it was just a growth or something
because of all the rain we've had. Each cone holds many of these
small black discs. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a
photo for anyone who needs to see.

Thanks,
Traci

Traci wrote:
I have an unidentifiable insect(?) in my flowerbed. I've been
searching the web and these posts for days but haven't found
anything.

I first noticed some very small black things on the leaves of
some of the plants. They can be scratched off. They are round
and flat and hard. Then I noticed these cone shaped things
almosts covering the dirt in the bed. At first I thought it
was just a growth or something because of all the rain we've
had. Each cone holds many of these small black discs. Any
help would be greatly appreciated. I have a photo for anyone
who needs to see.

Post the picture to alt.binaries.pictures.garden

--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

I don't have alt.binaries.*

This link should work to show you the picture. It's a bit fuzzy, but
hopefully identifiable by someone.

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bc/wen...tos.yahoo.com/

(Traci) wrote in message . com...
I have an unidentifiable insect(?) in my flowerbed. I've been
searching the web and these posts for days but haven't found anything.

I first noticed some very small black things on the leaves of some of
the plants. They can be scratched off. They are round and flat and
hard. Then I noticed these cone shaped things almosts covering the
dirt in the bed. At first I thought it was just a growth or something
because of all the rain we've had. Each cone holds many of these
small black discs. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a
photo for anyone who needs to see.

Thanks,
Traci

Artillery Fungus
Sphaerobolus stellatus

I did some research on this and it sounds to be a pretty good match,
except that from what I've read, this fungus doesn't damage the
plants. My leaves are yellowing after some time with these black
spots on them. Here are 2 clear photos of the pods.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4289542161

I don't have alt.binaries.*

This link should work to show you the picture. It's a bit fuzzy, but
hopefully identifiable by someone.

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bc/wen...tos.yahoo.com/

(Traci) wrote in message . com...
I have an unidentifiable insect(?) in my flowerbed. I've been
searching the web and these posts for days but haven't found anything.

I first noticed some very small black things on the leaves of some of
the plants. They can be scratched off. They are round and flat and
hard. Then I noticed these cone shaped things almosts covering the
dirt in the bed. At first I thought it was just a growth or something
because of all the rain we've had. Each cone holds many of these
small black discs. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a
photo for anyone who needs to see.

Thanks,
Traci

Artillery Fungus
Sphaerobolus stellatus