What the heck is this orange slime?

[drossi]

I have a tree in my front yard which usually has little blue berries that grow from the branches. I just went out and noticed big peach-sized balls of orange slime all over the tree. A couple had fallen to the ground below the tree. My wife thinks the tree is a juniper, but we really have no idea. Does anyone know what this tree is and what the orange stuff is?

 

[Treeman14]

Your tree, which may be a juniper or cedar, is infected with a rust disease, probably cedar-apple rust judging from the size of the galls. The interesting thing about this disease is that it requires two hosts to complete its life cycle, the cedar/juniper and an alternate host such as apple, crabapple, quince, or hawthorn. The alternate host may be up to 1,000 feet away. Spores from these orange galls are released during wet weather and blown to the broadleaf host where infection of the leaves occurs. Spores from these infected leaves are then blown back to the juniper in late summer. The fungi spend the winter on the juniper.
Treatment: Galls may be physically removed from the juniper to reduce the number of spores available. The broadleaf host may be sprayed with a fungicide to protect emerging leaves.

 

[drossi]

Wow

Wow! Thanks for the quick reply. We do have a crab apple tree about 100 feet away. I guess I'll try removing the galls and see how that works.
Thanks again.

 

[treeclimber165]

WOW! I'm impressed, Brett! I guess some of that 'book lernin' stuff is usefull sometimes! I'm considering taking a course or two in arboriculture this year, since I'm not climbing anymore. Takes a combination of both bases of knowledge to fix the problem most times.