Home /
Learn /
Blogs /
Tree Galls or Seed Pods?
Tree Galls or Seed Pods?
I was recently looking at a star magnolia tree and noticed weird looking growths coming out of the ends of many of the tree's branches. I had never seen this before and my first thought was that it was some type of gall, similar to oak galls, forming on the branch tips.
Galls are abnormal growths that can occur on the leaves, twigs or flowers of numerous plants. They are usually caused by irritation or stimulation of the plant cells from things like an insect laying eggs on the leaf surface. One of the more common types of galls we see are the maple bladder galls that form on silver maple leaves. This gall is caused by a tiny wasp that attacks the leaf. The health of the tree is not affected and special tree care is not necessary, but it can deter from its aesthetic beauty.
I did some research and discovered that the growths on the magnolia were not a gall, but the seed pods that the tree will generate. The seed pods will form at the ends of the branches where the flowers had formed earlier in the spring. As the pod ripens it will split open to reveal bright orange seeds.
As I said earlier, I had never seen them before, so I needed to find out why they formed this year. It is also possible that I just never noticed them before. The only reason I can think of as to why they formed this year may be due to the exceptionally wet and cool spring we had this year in the Chicago area that provided the tree enough energy to form the seed pods.
That is only conjecture on my part, but I do know that oak trees can go several years without producing acorns as they need the time to build up enough energy to push out the acorns. I will continue to learn more about these seed pods and if I find a reason why they formed this year, I will let you know in a future blog.