"Our house...

... in the middle of a leaf."

OK, the real song by Madness in 1982 was more along the lines of "Our house, in the middle of the street",but I couldn't resist.

Yesterday while out hunting flowers and seed pods for the summer research project I noticed these strange structures hanging from an oak. At first I thought they were fruits, but look nothing like acorns, and then quickly realized they were dangling from the bottom of a leaf. This is a leaf gall. There are many different types of galls, and not all grow on leaves. There are also many different causes including insects, fungi, viruses, etc. Typically the plant structure where they occur is induced to produce the outer portions of the gall from its own tissues.

I collected one and put it in some plant-kill-juice. I can't wait to crack it and see what's inside!!!!