QuestionWe live in Southern Maine near the coast. This week I noticed that under each of the oak trees in the neighborhood there were small white softfuzzy balls about 1/4 to 1/2in. in diameter. Looking at one leaf on the ground, it had about 6 little clusters of these whitish yellow things adhering to it. I have never observed these before. What are they? Do they harm the tree?
AnswerThese are leaf galls caused by a wasp like insect and will not effect the health of the tree. The worst thing that could happen is it may cause the leaves to drop sooner than normal. These insects vary greatly in population and one year they will be abundant the next rare. I would not be concerned with them since they cause no real harm to the tree.
