Sunday, March 09, 2008

Oak Marble Gall /Egegalde




The gall wasp lays eggs within leaf buds. A single larva is located in a hard seed-like cell in the centre. The word marble derives from the gall's shape which is a marble-like rounded structure.
The galls contain large amounts of tannic acid which was used for making iron gall ink and for dying cloth. According to recent research traces of iron-gall ink have been found on the Dead Sea scrolls.

photo 080308: grethe bachmann, Djursland

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