gall

Abnormal outgrowth on a plant that develops as a result of attack by insects or, less commonly, by bacteria, fungi, mites, or nematodes. The attack causes an increase in the number of cells or an enlargement of existing cells in the plant. Gall-forming insects generally pass the early stages of their life inside the gall.

Gall wasps are responsible for the conspicuous bud galls forming on oak trees, 2.5–4 cm/1–1.5 in across, known as ‘oak apples’. The organisms that cause galls are host-specific. Thus, for example, gall wasps tend to parasitize oaks, and sawflies willows.

Gall (c. 1840–1894)

American Sioux Indian leader. He became a noted warrior of the Hunkpapa Sioux and a protégé of Chief Sitting Bull. Gall accompanied Sitting Bull to Montana 1876 and led the encirclement and annihilation of Custer's force at Little Bighorn.

Born along the Moreau River in the Dakota Territory, Gall participated in raids against the US Army along the Bozeman Trail and opposed the Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868, which established the reservation system in the northern plains. After Custer's last stand in 1876, he escaped to Canada with Sitting Bull and later settled on a reservation, becoming an Indian judge. In 1890 he opposed the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which aimed to vanquish the white Americans from North America.