Pacific Coast pear rust facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pacific Coast pear rust |
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| Gymnosporangium libocedri on serviceberry fruits | |
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| Genus: |
Gymnosporangium
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| Species: |
libocedri
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Gymnosporangium libocedri, also known as the Pacific Coast pear rust, is a tiny fungus that causes a plant disease. It's called a "rust fungus" because it often makes rusty-looking spots on plants. This fungus is a "plant pathogen," meaning it can make plants sick. It mainly affects two types of trees: the incense cedar and fruit trees like pears, apples, and hawthorns.
Contents
What is Pacific Coast Pear Rust?
Gymnosporangium libocedri is a type of fungus that needs two different kinds of plants to complete its life cycle. It's a bit like a visitor that stays in two different homes! One home is usually an incense cedar tree. The other home is often a fruit tree, such as a pear, apple, crabapple, hawthorn, mountain ash, quince, or serviceberry.
How Does This Fungus Live?
This fungus has a fascinating life cycle that involves two different types of trees.
Life on Incense Cedar Trees
In the spring, the fungus creates strange, orange, jelly-like growths on incense cedar trees. These growths are called telia. They look a bit like orange blobs or horns sticking out from the tree's branches. These telia produce tiny spores, which are like the seeds of the fungus. The spores are carried by the wind to their next home.
Sometimes, the fungus can also cause a condition called "brooming" on incense cedars. This makes the branches grow in a dense, bushy way, like a witch's broom.
Life on Fruit Trees
The spores from the cedar trees land on fruit trees like pears or apples. On these trees, the fungus causes different kinds of spots or lesions on the leaves, fruits, or twigs. These spots might be orange or yellow. From these spots, another type of spore is produced. These spores then travel back to the incense cedar trees, completing the fungus's journey.
This back-and-forth movement between two different types of trees is how the Pacific Coast pear rust survives and spreads.
What Does It Look Like?
On incense cedar trees, you might see bright orange, jelly-like growths, especially after rain in the spring. These growths can be quite striking. They are the telia that release spores.
On fruit trees, the fungus usually causes spots on the leaves or fruit. These spots might start as small yellow or orange dots and can grow larger. They can sometimes look like rust, which is how the fungus got its name.
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