What is this alien life form growing from my cedar?

[7acres]

Is this some paracitic plant?

 

[begreen]

Looks like an apple-cedar rust gall. Are there apple trees in the area?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosporangium_juniperi-virginianae

 

[moresnow]

You can get your answer over at arboristsite.com.

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

Looks like an apple-cedar rust gall. Are there apples in the area?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosporangium_juniperi-virginianae

They are very alien looking! Definitely a Cedar-Apple Rust gall. After a rain, they get even more alien looking. When the gall releases its spores, those get on apple tree leaves and form brownish-red splotches on the leaves. Later, those form spores and wind transfers those to a Cedar/Juniper.

This fungus moving back and forth between two different species is an interesting life cycle. There is a disease in White Pines called White Pine Blister Rust. It's very similar in that a canker forms on the pine branch, it then fruits and releases spores that transfer to the Gooseberry plant. It then resides on that plant until it goes through the spore cycle and infects another White Pine. The spores are wind-borne just like the Cedar-Apple Rust.

I was a Biology teacher in a previous life.

 

[SpaceBus]

They are very alien looking! Definitely a Cedar-Apple Rust gall. After a rain, they get even more alien looking. When the gall releases its spores, those get on apple tree leaves and form brownish-red splotches on the leaves. Later, those form spores and wind transfers those to a Cedar/Juniper.

This fungus moving back and forth between two different species is an interesting life cycle. There is a disease in White Pines called White Pine Blister Rust. It's very similar in that a canker forms on the pine branch, it then fruits and releases spores that transfer to the Gooseberry plant. It then resides on that plant until it goes through the spore cycle and infects another White Pine. The spores are wind-borne just like the Cedar-Apple Rust.

I was a Biology teacher in a previous life.

Does the Cedar-Apple rust gall harm the cedar? It sounds like the apple tree is getting the short end of the deal. Fungi are very interesting.

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

Does the Cedar-Apple rust gall harm the cedar? It sounds like the apple tree is getting the short end of the deal. Fungi are very interesting.

I don't trust my memory, so quickly looked this up to double check - it doesn't cause any permanent harm to the cedar (Juniper). The apple does get the short end - it can cause leaf drop and spots on the fruit.

And it is interesting because with White Pine Blister rust - it's the opposite. It can kill the Pine and I haven't seen anything about damage to the goose berry or current bush.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

One of the reasons that we don't see gooseberries or currants much is that fungus. They were almost wiped out in order to protect the commercial value of the trees. It's only recently that they are slowly creeping back out and into production.

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

One of the reasons that we don't see gooseberries or currants much is that fungus. They were almost wiped out in order to protect the commercial value of the trees. It's only recently that they are slowly creeping back out and into production.

I'd heard that in heavy White Pine country that woodland owners and timber companies did go after the goose berry/currants (Ribes family for the scientifically inclined) for just that reason.

Having to deal with this in a small White Pine stand I have and in the WP's grown for Christmas trees I did a little work on this many years ago. The spores are carried by the wind "great distances" according to the US Forest Service. I can say that there are no Gooseberry plants that I can find within several hundred feet of my Christmas trees and I still find Blister Rust lesions on the occasional tree. If caught early enough, the affected branch can simply be pruned off and the tree will be fine.

In my White Pine timber stand there are Gooseberry within 50 ft (because I simply cannot get to everything on this farm! ) and I see the occasional infection on the very edges of the stand. Those trees seem to sort of "intercept" the spores before they get deeper into the stand. When I see a "flag" I can prune that branch off and often save the tree, but have lost several that were not caught in time. As a wood burner, those WP that die make some nice wood for short, hot fires.

When you prune the affected branch off, you prevent the fungus from entering the trees vascular system - once it's in the trunk, the tree's a goner.



This is what a White Pine Blister Rust "Flag" looks like.

Sorry, I think I got a little long winded on this topic and I hijacked the thread from the Cedar Apple Rust issue. My bad

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I've never seen a gooseberry or currant bush. Before I learned of the connection I'd never heard of them. Then I started noticing them for sale online. I can't say I've seen them at the nurseries yet. There may even be old laws against their sale.

 

[XmasTreefarmer]

I've never seen a gooseberry or currant bush. Before I learned of the connection I'd never heard of them. Then I started noticing them for sale online. I can't say I've seen them at the nurseries yet. There may even be old laws against their sale.

Limestone - This is all so interesting! Check this out - it's from a local WI nursery and shows the states that they can't ship to - very probably because of the White Pine Blister Rust issue!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Huh, I see NY is not on that list.

Maybe it one was, and as economies change, it was removed.