Fungus (?) ID

[bobatkins]

<p>Anyone have any idea what this is? Looks like an orange jelly octopus attached to a fir/pine/evergreen tree. There are a bunch of them on the tree. I assume it's some sort of fungus, but I haven't been able to ID it.</p>

<p>The tree looks otherwise healthy and the orange jelly octopuses (octopi?) are hanging off the green branches. They aren't growing on dead wood.</p>

<p>Or maybe the space aliens are here...</p><div></div>

[William Kahn]

<p>Not a clue. But, I'll bet Lupo has a receipe for it... ;-)</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I should know what this is, as I've had it here, but can't bring it up to the conscious level. However, I dimly remember it may be a virus infection rather than a fungus.</p>

[djolk]

<p>Its effing cool, whatever it is.</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>If it's a virus (or even a fungus) I sure hope it's not transmissible to humans! I'm not into the space-alien look.</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>Found it thanks to JDM. It is in fact a fungus, but a search based on evergeen viruses turned it up.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p><em><strong>Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae</strong></em> is a plant pathogen that causes cedar-apple rust. In virtually any location where apples or crabapples and Eastern red cedar coexist, cedar apple rust can be a destructive or disfiguring disease on both the apples and cedars.</p>

</blockquote>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosporangium_juniperi-virginianae">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosporangium_juniperi-virginianae</a></p>

<p>It's raining today for the first time in weeks and..."<em>On the eastern seaboard of the United States, at the first warm rain of spring, the spore horns become gelatinous masses and produce their teliospores.</em>"</p>

<p>There are no apple trees around here that I'm aware of, but that sure looks like what I'm seeing.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>That's it!<br>

I had it on my junipers, exactly, and I live in an apple-growing region.</p>

<p>I'm at peace now... ;)</p>

[stemked]

Truely beautiful though.

[NetR]

<p>Its a Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. See here: <a href="http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/">http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/</a></p>

 

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Hmm Ross I wonder though, how can we refute the hypothesis that it's actually a <a href="http://www.squatchopedia.com/index.php/Booger">sasquatch's booger</a>?</p>

<p>And an aside to that aside: which is worse - living in a town called Gorst, WA (see map in Ross' link) or on a beach called Booger Bay, FL (as per above link)? :s</p>

[carol_a.]

<p align="left"> </p>

<p align="left">Amazing photograph I really didn’t think that it was a fungus. Thanks to this photograph I have learned something new. And also for the people who answers the queries of others kudos to you all please don’t stop on sharing your knowledge. </p>