Some years back we had 4 apple trees where we lived. Each year they would get the characteristic yellow spotting of CAR on the leaves. I always looked for the alien looking galls on my neighbor’s cedar tree but was never able to spot them. This morning as I let the dog out I glanced over at the cedar in our front yard. I noticed a smallish orange blob and thought this might be what it was. Upon closer inspection I found this guy. Later I spotted another larger gall further up the tree. Kind of reminds me of one of those dog toys.
Cedar apple rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae) is a fungal disease that lives part of its life on Eastern Red Cedar and the other part typically on apples and crabapples. There are other species of Gymnosporangium that affect other plants too. John Hartman over at the University of Ky put out a publication detailing the life cycle and treatment options in Ky.
Kerry, Thanks for the EXCELLENT picture. I have just started apple trees on a property filled with red cedars and I wondered what I ought to be looking for. I have purchased resistant strains … Jonafree etc. … but I am still a little nervous. Will read the article when I get the chance. Thanks.
Leslie,
You are welcome. The cedar galls only look like this for a little while. After the orange tentacles dry up you are left with a hard brownish ball. Once I realized that I looked between the cedar branches on the inside of the tree where it is somewhat airy and found half a dozen or so of the dried up balls. The largest was a bit smaller than a golf ball.
The symptoms on the apple were the rust spots on the leaves and later the fruit. I’ve heard that sometimes you may see the orange tentacles protruding from the bottom of the leaves on the apple but I never observed that on mine.
I’ve been watching the cedar tree and sure enough, every morning after an evening rain the orange tentacles are back in all their glory. If it is a dry day the tentacles will be shriveled and dark by the time I come home from work. By tomorrow the galls will be hard dark balls among the branches. It amazes me how quickly the tentacles can grow. I’d love to do a time lapse video of it.