Help with camellia galls

Q: I enclose photographs of a gall on one of my camellias. I don’t want the problem to spread to other trees and shrubs and could do with some advice.


A: Camellia gall is dramatic, ugly, and alarming. The organism causing the galls is a fungus, Exobasidium camelliae, which is specific to camellias and will not harm other plants. Green swellings appear, sometimes lobed or bunched, and as they mature they become covered with white spores.
There is no treatment other than to remove the galls as soon as they appear and particularly before the white fungal coating develops. You have left yours a little longer than is wise, so remove them as soon as you can!
Though hideous, camellia gall is unlikely to affect the welfare of the shrub, especially if it is otherwise healthy and happy. Keep an eye on all your camellias next year and take off any developing galls as soon as you spot them.