Double Trouble

I wanted to go to Kew Gardens, and was feeling happy after a relatively good drive into town, but that turned to disappointment as the only road into the car park was blocked by police investigating a "serious incident" on the nearby Thames Path. I could have parked on the street, but felt a 4 hour limit on parking, with no return,  was too much of a restriction on visiting this iconic garden. So instead headed to Osterley Park for refreshment and a walk round the gardens and estate.

I spotted some oak trees bursting with acorns and found a pair which seemed apt for today's Tiny Tuesday challenge of two of a kind. I then spotted a second pair, only these were wonderfully contorted having been infested by a knopper gall wasp which lays its eggs in the developing fruit in spring. A chemical reaction causes the distortions as the larvae eat the flesh. The acorns are of course infertile, but otherwise the galls cause little damage to their mighty hosts.