Stem rust fungus. Different from most fungi, the rust variations have five spore stages and alternate between two hosts. Wheat is the primary host, and barberry is the alternate host. There are multiple pathotypes (including QCC and MCC) affecting barley, within "forma specialis tritici". The stem rust fungus attacks the parts of the plant that are above ground. Spores that land on green wheat plants form a pustule that invades the outer layers of the stalk. Infected plants produce fewer tillers and set fewer seed, and in cases of severe infection the plant may die. Infection can reduce what is an apparently
Mimicry in plants of signals. Cryptic mimicry in plants is usually achieved visually. The South American "Boquila trifoliata", of the Lardizabalaceae family, is a climbing vine with a highly variable phenotype. It is capable of mimicking the leaf features of plant species that it clings to, adopting color shape and size. By camouflaging its leafy appendages, "Boquila" lowers its rate of herbivory. Mimicry in plants In evolutionary biology, mimicry in plants is where a plant organism evolves to resemble another organism physically or chemically, increasing the mimic's Darwinian fitness. Mimicry in plants has been studied far less than mimicry in animals, with fewer