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The Living Forest (151) : Oak Marble Galls

7.984 29

Mark Billiau.

Premium (World), region Antwerp, Belgium

The Living Forest (151) : Oak Marble Galls

Galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant or tree tissues and can be caused by various parasites, mostly by insects like gall wasps and gall flies, but also some fungi, bacteria and mites can be the origin.

Gall insects lay their eggs on the leaf surface or on the buds of young twigs and at the same time secrete a chemical that causes the cells on the infected surface to expand and grow over the eggs forming the gall.
The larvae then feed inside the gall until fully grown, completely protected against predators, cold and rain.

Galls are not really spectacular, but some are beautifully shaped like these Marble Galls (coming from a gall wasp) growing on Oaks.
Fortunately, galls caused by insects are harmless to the tree.

Dutch name : Eikengal (ook knikkergal genoemd)
German name : Schwammkugelgalle
Latin name : Andricus kollari

Another gall species can be seen here

The Living Forest (58) : Lime Nail Galls
Mark Billiau.

(this afternoon I’m leaving for a few days; see you all next week)

Comentarios 29

willy ombret 20/04/2011 9:27
Très belle photo dans une bonne ambiance et belle lumière
willy ombret
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Hans-Günther Schöner 19/04/2011 12:35

Hab ich noch nie gesehen ! Klasse !!

+++++ !

Gruß
Hans-Günther
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Angelika El. 17/04/2011 12:24

Du hast diese bizarren GEbilde ganz wunderbar dargestellt! Sehr schönes Licht und ein feiner Glanz liegt auf den Galläpfeln! Wie tröstlich, dass aber trotzdem soviel Kraft im Baum steckt, neue Triebe an dem Ast zu entwickeln...

LG!
angelika

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dirk van Appeldorn 16/04/2011 9:38
as usual: well presented with a perfect light
rgds
Dirk
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Denis- 15/04/2011 12:58
Félicitations
Amicalement
Denis
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Charly Roggow 14/04/2011 17:39
ist mir völlig unbekannt, sieht aber gut aus
LG Charly
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Miguel SR flowers 14/04/2011 16:14
Great photo, I like it
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Die Mohnblumen 14/04/2011 5:27
Eine sehr gelungene Aufnahme, klasse freigestellt, gute Farben. +++
LG K-H
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Josef Kainz 13/04/2011 19:38
Schönes Motiv gute Aufnahme
josef
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Majid mehraban 13/04/2011 19:06
+++
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Vitória Castelo Santos 13/04/2011 18:48
!!! WONDERFUL !!!
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Adele D. Oliver 13/04/2011 18:32
I do find these quite beautiful - like shiny golden marbles. An excellent image and interesting information, Mark ... and so sharp you can clearly see the tiny spider.
greetings, Adele
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s. sabine krause 13/04/2011 13:32
those big ones always look bizarrely beautiful and a little eerie, as one always wonders what might be hatching from it – a forsest sprite maybe? ; )). just read up on them on wikipedia's site and found that in ancient times they were used to make ink. apparently, scientists have just recently found traces of "iron-gall ink" on the dead sea scrolls and on the 'lost' gospel of judas! great shot as always, mark! love how the galls perfectly match the oak-leaf buds in color, and how the sunlight creates a beautiful warm glow on the brown surface! greetings, sabine.
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Gunther Hasler 13/04/2011 13:13
Zusammen mit Deinem informativen Text interessant und sehenswert!
Gruß, Gunther
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Vjdj2 13/04/2011 12:56
A wonderful image,well captured!!! Greetings, vj
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