All stages of the life cycle occur on one host. Spermagonia and aecia have been observed in Greece (Grigoriou, 1992) and Iran (Hamzeh-Zarghani and Bani-Hashemi, 2002). In Pileolaria, spermagonia are flat and subcuticular, and the structures and spores of aecia resemble those of the uredinia (Hiratsuka et al., 1992).
Cinnamon-brown uredinia appear on the undersides of leaf spots and on fruits in the spring and summer. Dark mounded telia develop on the upper side of leaves in summer and autumn.
Related invasive species
- Pileolaria terebinthi
Related Farm Practice
- Defoliation
- Hosts
Related location
- Iran
- Greece
P. terebinthi is an autoecious rust, completing all stages of its life cycle on trees in the genus Pistacia. It occurs on native species from the western Mediterranean to mainland China and northwestern India, but has not been reported from native species or the introduced pistachio tree in North America. Introduction to other pistachio-growing areas has not occurred. The importation of infected trees or cuttings would facilitate this. No evidence exists that the commercially-traded nuts could carry the pathogen from infected fruit. Locally, the fungus is distributed by windborne basidiospores, aeciospores, urediniospores and fallen leaves bearing teliospores.
Small orange-red to purple spots, often somewhat angular, and usually more visible on the lower side of the leaf, expand and may coalesce before becoming necrotic and dark-brown. Uredinia develop in spots on leaves and on fruit clusters;infected fruit is malformed (Smith et al., 1988), with or without visible leaf spots, dark masses of teliospores develop in scattered or confluent pustules, primarily on the upper surface of leaves. Severe infection due to significant rain at the end of the winter and beginning of the spring can lead to defoliation (Assaweh, 1969).
In a breeding nursery, Corazza and Avanzato (1985) found that Pistacia vera was more severely attacked by rust than was Pistacia terebinthus, whereas Pistacia atlantica showed no symptoms of infection. Hamzeh-Zarghani and Bani-Hashemi (2001) report variation in severity depending on age and sex in Pistacia mutica. Pistacia chinensis and Pistacia weinmannifolia are reported as hosts for both species of rust, P. terebinthi and Pileolaria pistaciae, in China (Tai, 1979;Teng, 1996;Chen, 2002).