Gall on native Sumac?

Bardstown, KY(Zone 6a)

Here ya go VV.

Thumbnail by postmandug Thumbnail by postmandug
Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

Maybe that's just the male plant...

Impressive galls, indeed. I'll bust out my Sinclair & Lyons (or the other fat text on Insects that Feed on Trees and Shrubs) and get you a positive ID.

Can't make out the stems - are those on Rhus glabra (Smooth Sumac)?

Bardstown, KY(Zone 6a)

Smooth as far as I can tell.

Scott County, KY(Zone 5b)

This may be a good source for what you've shown:

Quoting:
The galls of Pemphigus rhois Fitch (Fig. 113) are large, bladdery and evidently the pocketing of a single leaflet of the host plant, Rhus glabra or R. typhina. My specimens of these galls were fully mature, and I was therefore unable to follow the line of development. The leaf structure was modified into the characteristic Aphididae gall structure. Fibro-vascular bundles were numerous and near the inner surface of the gall. Opposite each bundle was a large cavity filled with some substance which I was unable to determine.


https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/1392/V04N06_140.pdf;jsessionid=6931C1BC245E8FAEE7A0CD9AFEF31FA5?sequence=1

But this image looks spot on...

http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/fhm/images/SumacLeafGallImg.htm

There are lots of hits on Melaphis rhois...

Bardstown, KY(Zone 6a)

An exact match on the Melaphis rhois. Thanks. Like the links says, it's never really been an issue with the health of the host plants just an unsightly formation.

Doug

Northumberland, United Kingdom(Zone 9a)

Quote from ViburnumValley :
Impressive galls, indeed.


On a similar theme, look up Baizongia pistaciae on the related genus Pistacia ;-)

Resin

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