Alright southern gardeners...this question is for the pros: My mom has these "things" all over her queen palms and her butternut tree. The little cone looks just like the bark that it is growing on, but if you pull it off you can squeeze out this black thing. I don't know if it's an insect, larvae, egg, fungus, or what. But if they are going to damage the trees (that are already not doing so well), I'd like to take care of them quickly. Thanks Dave Things on Mom's Palm Trees. ( photo / image / picture from civicboyfl's Garden )
Looks like some kind of bag worm. found one at www.pestnet.org/.../Popondetta-094.jpg looks like yours and it was on a palm.
Here's a photo of some protruding aerial roots, or root bumps that are similar to your photo if you want to take a look :-D http://www.bonsaihunk.us/Epiphyticpics/rootbump.jpg
Bluewing I'm afraid your link doesn't work. Maybe you could try something, other than direct linking, to let Dave see the picture of the root bumps.
Thanks for letting me know about the links. I couldn't see feathers but could see mine for some reason. If you go to Google and type in "aerial bumps on trunk" under "images" you should be able to see the photo I had in the first link. It's the 1st photo on the page, or try clicking this link. http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&gbv= ... =&gs_rfai= Hope it works
The link works Bluewing and the 'bumps' do look quite similar to Dave's picture. I wonder how they have developed since his photograph was posted in May?
Great, it worked this time! I'm curious as well Eileen. Love to see an updated photo on how they look now.