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.