WTF!?! Green "Brains" on my Azalea??

I have a shrub in front of the Clubhouse that my friend Sal tells me is an azalea. It is a nice specimen with beautiful orange blossoms that bloom around the same time as the rhododendrons and other azaleas in our area do. One odd thing about this plant is that it gets these very weird green brain-like growths on it. I have no idea what they are or if I have even identified the plant correctly.

If you know what this plant is and what the hell those things are please let me know in the comments section. Here are some photos. (Sorry for the quality on these. I was afraid to get to close to these green things lest I end up a "pod-person".)