Albugo occidentalis Albugo occidentalis Albugo occidentalis, the causal agent of Spinach White Rust, is an oomycete plant pathogen, although some discussions still treat it as a fungal organism. "Albugo occidentalis" is one of the most important spinach diseases in North America, found throughout the United States east of the rocky mountains. The economically important host of "Albugo occidentalis" is spinach (Spinacia oleracea); although the oomycete has also been reported to affect plants of the genus Chenopodium, the genus including the crop plant quinoa. This pathogen causes white rust or white blister of spinach. It is unrelated to the basidiomycete rusts biologically, but
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