The first observation in New England‽ And in my own front yard‽ And already in the CV‽ Woah. @sbrobeson @susanhewitt @djringer
Beautiful, dichotomously branched chasmothecial appendages. Took 20+ hours to stitch together the focus stacks manually.
Mycelium and fruiting bodies are strictly hypophyllous on Quercus pagoda leaves, as shown in habitus pictures 5 and 6.
Literature
The most often described Erysiphe sp. from oak leaves is E. alphitoides; however, the chasmothecial appendage lengths range from 0.75 to 2 times the diameter of the chasmothecium. The appendages in this observation consistently only measure 0.5 to 0.75 times the chasmothecial diameter.
E. quercicola is similar to E. alphitoides, but with shorter appendages that match the range of this observation. E. quercicola would be a good candidate apart from the ascospore dimensions, which are smaller than this observation's ascospore dimensions by ~30%. Additionally, both E. alphitoides and quercicola are only dubiously present in North America, and may be limited to Europe and/or South America.
Identification
Erysiphe abbreviata is a North American species that has been collected from Quercus pagoda. It has notably larger ascospores than the other Erysiphe spp. mentioned, and shares the short appendages of E. quercicola; Braun et al. 2007.
Image annotations
1) Chasmothecium with appendages – lactophenol cotton blue (LPCB)
2) Chasmothecial appendage, dichotomously branched ~5x – LPCB
3) Erumpent ascus with ascospores – Melzer's reagent (MLZ)
4) Ascospores – MLZ
5) Habitus with chasmothecia visible on underside of Q. pagoda leaf
6) Close view of habitus
7) Conidium with initial appressorium growth – LPCB
8) Lobed appressorium – LPCB
9) Chasmothecium detail with early, unbranched appendages – LPCB
10) Uncropped view of all appendages – LPCB
11) Chasmothecia among stellate trichomes – MLZ
12) Ruptured chasmothecia detail – Water
All scale bars are 10 μm.
Average measurements vs. literature range
Ascospores:
24.14 × 14.13 μm || 20–32 × 12–21 μm
Asci:
55.62 × 38.29 μm || 50–70 × 35–55 μm
Chasmothecial diameter:
82–124; x̄:108 μm || 70–125(–130) μm
Conidia:
32.21 × 14.41 μm || 25–45 × 10–20 μm
Hyphal width:
4.42 μm || 2–6 μm
Literature measurements from:
Braun, Uwe & Shi, Ainong & Mmbaga, M. & Takamatsu, Susumu & Divarangkoon, Rangsi & Chen, P.. (2007). Erysiphe abbreviata on cherry bark oak - Morphology, phylogeny and taxonomy. Mycologia. 99. 655-63. 10.3852/mycologia.99.5.655.
on Indigofera kirilowii
on Indigofera kirilowii
on Indigofera kirilowii