The Urban Pantheist

Cedar-apple rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae) is a fungus that infects juniper (notably the eastern redcedar) and apple trees. The fungus' life cycle takes it from one plant to the other, and produces these exciting and bizarre fruiting galls on the juniper tree. I covered the closely related quince rust in the 365 project. The gall is a plain woody lump until the spring rains and then the weird orange spore-bearing tentacles come out.( more )