Huckleberry gall

[Tom]

Here is something neat.  I was in the front yard this evening smelling my Gardenias and noticed this small bush growing beneath the Gardenia plant.  I didn't recognize it until I saw the berrys.  It is very dwarfed in all aspects and has galls all over it.  I don't know what may have caused the galls.


Here is a close-up

I cut one open and it is not woody inside.  It looks as if the gall is mostly bark and is filled with a solid green material that looks like phloem or cambium.  I see no apparent eggs or insects in the gall but there is a suspect dark spot on each and at the top and the largest gall had developed a void where the dark spot was.  Perhaps this may indicate a sting.