tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2662118368553266438.post9042921985445271659..comments2024-03-22T20:11:44.673-04:00Comments on Saratoga woods and waterways: Odd Lot of OdditiesJacqueline Donnellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13390548854179921303noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2662118368553266438.post-90332167082370151822009-06-07T17:50:48.555-04:002009-06-07T17:50:48.555-04:00Have some of that on the chokecherries right acros...Have some of that on the chokecherries right across the alley. <br /><br />Whenever I'm hiking I always wish for an expert companion to tell me what everything is.greentanglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00693478617579227798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2662118368553266438.post-59294752473477839452009-06-04T10:29:41.816-04:002009-06-04T10:29:41.816-04:00Thanks, Kathie and Ellen, for your informative com...Thanks, Kathie and Ellen, for your informative comments. I'm so grateful to have friendly experts to fill in my knowledge gaps. That fuzzy oak thing may yet grow a thin brown crust and become oak apple. I'll keep my eye on it.<br /><br />Let's all mourn the poisoned insects, especially such beneficial ones as bees and dragonflies. It's true I wouldn't mind murdering black flies (I write this with face and neck gnawed to bits by their jaws), but not at such a cost to all other critters.Jacqueline Donnellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13390548854179921303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2662118368553266438.post-70198310751294282552009-06-04T09:20:08.961-04:002009-06-04T09:20:08.961-04:00Ooo - Kathie beat me to it! I was going to say th...Ooo - Kathie beat me to it! I was going to say that if memory serves me the black "poo" is black knot, a fusiform fungus. I remember my dad getting all upset when it appeared on our neighbor's trees; he feared it would jump into our yard where he had planted all sorts of fruit trees. We see it all over the place up here - chokecherries seem to be the most affected.<br /><br />As for your poor insects, it sounds to me like they've been poisoned. Wouldn't surprise me one bit that Great Escape sprays - afterall, it would cut down on their bottom line if people stopped coming because of the mosquitoes and blackflies.<br /><br />I wonder if the fuzzy thing on your oak is the start of an oak apple gall. HM. Probably not, but it's the right shape and has spots (the pink bits) spaced sort of like the brown spots on an oak apple.Ellen Rathbonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17684750034177425795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2662118368553266438.post-87685687276726441942009-06-03T22:50:30.734-04:002009-06-03T22:50:30.734-04:00Your arboreal dog poop is really black knot of che...Your arboreal dog poop is really black knot of cherry. It's a fungal disease of many Prunus spp. It causes those swollen gall-like growths, and people who're growing Prunus spp. for fruit despise it. The name of the fungus is Apiosporina morbosa.Kathiehttp://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/noreply@blogger.com