Any idea what's causing this?

[jojo]

I saw those brown blobs on some bushes which I think are Whych Elms. Those blobs looks like some somewhat leathery, hollow leaves, and they seems to come out from where the leaves grow.

Any ideas what causes them? Parasites? insects? Pollution? There are quite of lot of them along that particular edge and I am sure I haven't noticed them last year, when the leaves were down.

Sorry the pics aren't terribly good.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/mollygypsy/DSCN0026-4.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k270/mollygypsy/DSCN0029-3.jpg

[calibanzwei]

Galls?
http://www.hsu.edu/content.aspx?id=2151

[jojo]

Galls?
http://www.hsu.edu/content.aspx?id=2151

Humm.. They don't look like any of those galls. Very thin, leathery, about 2" in size. They look more like 3 dimensional hollow leaves, if that makes sense?

[stuart f]

Hi Jojo,looking at them i can't help but think they might be dried out Jews ear(Auricularia auricula-judae).You might like to soak one of them in water to see if they swell back up to there original size.

Just a stab in the dark though as i can't really tell much from the first pic.

Anyway cheers Stuart.

[Adze]

Xylaria fungi of some sort perhaps? This one isn't too dissimilar:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Xylaria_sp.jpg

They come in all shapes and sizes.

[hertsboy]

Jews Ear seems the most likely - but they look a bit too tatty for Jews Ear

[fireman sam]

I'd probably go for a very dried up Jew's ear. It's on an Elm tree, which although less common to find there than on an Elder, they do still grow there.

Possibly effected in some way by the Dutch Elm Disease?