Crushed ice jelly on the ground

4 Comments

1. Tom of AskaNaturalist.com on October 29, 2018 at 6:53 am

   

       Hi Terresa, Thanks for writing. I wasn’t sure exactly what that was, so I asked my friend Eric Powers of Your Connection to Nature. Eric identified your jelly crushed ice as the defensive fluid released by a black cherry tree, (Prunus serotina). The process of releasing gum resin to fight insects or disease is called gummosis. Black cherry is well known to release large amounts of gum, primarily to fight peach bark beetles. Eric points out that it usually has a brown tinge, but it can be crystal clear. So the question is, do you have a black cherry tree overhanging your garden? Tom

   Source: Barnd, B.D., Ginzel, M.D. Causes of Gummosis in Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). Purdue Extension. FNR-229-W

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2. Terresa on October 30, 2018 at 6:20 pm

       That is seriously interesting. I don’t believe I have any black cherry trees. I’ll see if I can do a mini catalog. Without looking I know we have Hawthorne, holly, tulip, black pine, some other evergreen. Terresa

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3. Tom of AskaNaturalist.com on October 30, 2018 at 6:23 pm

   

       That would be great. I would pay particular attention to the tree directly above where you found the “crushed ice.” Tom

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4. Susan Weyrauch on October 13, 2021 at 2:57 pm

   That looks like water absorbing crystals to me. They are added to potted plants to help maintain moisture.

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