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These growths, which resemble pine cones, are often found on willows.
Galls develop during the growing season and are typically found in the terminal buds of willows.
Here is a terminal bud without a gall:
Galls provide food and shelter for the organisms living within them.
A gall midge (Rhabdophaga strobiloides) causes the willow bud to develop abnormally.
The growth that we see on some willows is called “pine cone willow gall” and is the temporary home and food supply of the midge.
At certain times of the year, there are countless midges in the air at places like Col Sam Smith Park.
Salix eriocephala, which is commonly called Heart-leaved Willow or Missouri Willow, is always laden with galls and can be identified by this characteristic.
Here is the interior of a gall:
Some views of the Bluffs on this 0 degree morning with light snow falling:
There were few birds except in the duck pond and at the feeding rock:
I heard the herons flying;
And when I came into my garden,
My silken outer-garment
Trailed over withered leaves.
A dried leaf crumbles at a touch,
But I have seen many Autumns
With herons blowing like smoke
Across the sky.