The Gall of It

As I wandered round the woodland on Sunday, I found these acorns with what looked like a firework exploding out of the cup. An internet search yielded the information that this is a Knopper Gall, caused by a gall wasp which lays its eggs in developing acorns. These cause a chemically induced distortion which is fortunately not harmful to the tree, but obviously causes a failure in germination of the acorn. The infestation first appeared in the UK in the 1970s.

They make for an interesting entry for today’s Tiny Tuesday challenge.