784 



ECOLOGY 



trees (as the white birch, the hackberry, and various conifers) by Exoascus and by 

 other fungi, and by the dwarf mistletoe, Arceuthobium pusillum. In these galls 

 many small twigs diverge from the part infected, thus manifesting a resemblance 

 to a broom or brush. In the case of Exoascus the mycelium hibernates, so that 

 the fungus recurs season after season. Other important fungus galls are : the black 

 knot of the cherry (caused by Plowrightia, fig. noo); the ergot of rye and other 



1100 



FIGS. 1097-1100. 1097-1099 gall formation in a goldenrod (Solidago serotina): 

 1097, the apical portion of a plant that has been attacked by an insect (Cccidomyia 

 Solidaginis); such galls check stem elongation and prevent flowering; note the varir tion 

 in leaf form; 1098, an ordinary leaf; 1099, a gall leaf or leaf-complex made up of a num- 

 ber of coalesced leaves; noo, a "black knot" on a branch of the choke cherry (Prunus 

 virginiana), an example of gall formation through fungal influence, the stimukting 

 fungus being Plowrightia morbosa; the swollen black mass is known as a stroma, and it 

 contains many fructifications known as perithecia. 



grasses (caused by Clavkeps), in which black protruding bodies, the sclerotia, 

 replace the grains ; the cedar apple of Juniperus virginiana (caused by Gymnospo- 

 rangium); and the leaf and flower galls of the Ericaceae (caused by Exobasidium). 

 Fungi also occasion root galls in the cabbage and in the alder, and bacteria occasion 

 galls on the roots of leguminous plants (p. 787). Sometimes fungi cause pro- 

 nounced changes in plant habit. For example, the prostrate herbs, Euphorbia 

 maculata and E. polygonifolia, become erect when infested with a certain rust ; 



