Synchytrium taraxaci de Bary & Woronin, 1863

on Taraxacum

Taraxacum officinale, Amstelveen, Schinkelbos, 6.ix.2007

detail; upper side of the leaf

Taraxacum officinale, Belgium, prov. Flemish Brabant, Drieslinter, 7.v.2021 © Carina Van Steenwinkel

in some host plant cells orange sporangia sori are formed, in others grey resting spores.

the sporangia sori disintegrate, the sporangia are extruded. They soon germinate, releasing zoospores that may reinfect a host plant

extruded sporangia, next to a host cell with two resting spores

the resting spores germinate only after hibernation and disintegration of the host material. The zoospores that are then released infect a new generation oh host plants.

Taraxacum officinale, Belgium, prov. Antwerp, Geel, Gemeentelijke visvijver, 15.vi.2018 © Carina Van Steenwinkel

horizontal section through a sorus

stronger magnification

vertical section through a sorus

release of sporangia

stronger magnification

sporangia

Taraxacum officinale, Flevoland, Reve-Abbertbos, 23.ix.2016 © Hans Jonkman: upperside of the disfigured tip of the leaf

gall

leaves with tiny warts, less than half a mm, golden yellow orange to blood-red, usually a large number together.

hostplants

Asteraceae, oligophagous

Centaurea jacea; Crepis alpestris, biennis, vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia; Taraxacum officinale.

references

Buhr (1964b, 1965a), Dauphin & Aniotsbehere (1997a), Jage, Scholler & Klenke (2010a), Karling (1964a), Klenke & Scholler (2015a), Kruse (2014a, 2019a), Negrean (1996b), Redfern & Shirley (2011a), Roskam (2009a).