Message:

Subject: Black Wattle and Galls
Posted by Clara on February 18, 1999 at 18:51:28:

In Reply to: ewwww... posted by IrishCreme on February 18, 1999 at 18:18:09:

: "black wattle and galls"

: sounds awful!
: but now Im curious too... I have to find out WHAT this is...

Black wattle (Acacia mearnsii) is a tree found in Australia that sugar gliders eat the sap from. It is a large part of their natural diet. A "gall" is a type of tissue produced by some plants when damaged. An insect lays eggs in the leaves and the plant forms a little ball of tissue around the growing larvae. (An example of a gall is those little round balls that form on the undersides of oak leaves.) The gliders most likely break open the galls to get at the insect larvae inside rather than eat the tissue itself.

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