Puffball on a new growth tree
Hi Richard,
this is a woolly oak gall, produced by a wasp in the family Cynipidae : Callirhytis seminator – Wool-sower Wasp Gall (Strawberry Oak Gall). It is not uncommon on oaks such as the white oak, Quercus alba, also in your picture.
Sincerely,
Steven Hill, Ph.D., Botanist