Oak apple is the common name for a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from 2–5 cm. Oak apples are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall wasp in the family Cynipidae. The adult female wasp lays single eggs in developing leaf buds. The larvae feed on the gall tissue resulting from their secretions. Considerable confusion exists in the general 'literature' between the oak apple and the oak marble gall. The oak marble is frequently called the oak apple due to the superficial resemblance and the preponderance of the oak marble gall in the wild. Other galls found on oak trees include the Oak artichoke gall and the Acorn cup gall, but these both have their own distinctive form.
Some common oak-apple forming species are Biorhiza pallida gall wasp in Europe, Amphibolips confluenta in eastern North America, and Atrusca bella in western North America. Oak apples may be brownish, yellowish, greenish, pinkish or reddish.
Read more about Oak Apple: Iron Gall Ink, Folklore, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words oak and/or apple:
“Where he swings in the wind and rain,
In the sun and in the snow,
Without pleasure, without pain,
On the dead oak tree bough.”
—Edward Thomas (1878–1917)
“Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)