21st Century Guidebook to Fungi, SECOND EDITION, by David Moore, Geoffrey D. Robson and Anthony P. J. Trinci

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 12: Development and morphogenesis
2. Chapter 13: Ecosystem mycology: saprotrophs, and mutualisms between plants and fungi
   1. Ecosystem mycology
   2. Fungi as recyclers and saprotrophs
   3. Make the earth move
   4. Fungal toxins: food contamination and deterioration
   5. Decay of structural timber in dwellings
   6. Using fungi to remediate toxic and recalcitrant wastes
   7. Release of chlorohydrocarbons to the atmosphere by wood decay fungi
   8. Introduction to mycorrhizas
   9. Types of mycorrhiza
   10. Arbuscular (AM) endomycorrhizas
   11. Ericoid endomycorrhizas
   12. Arbutoid endomycorrhizas
   13. Monotropoid endomycorrhizas
   14. Orchidaceous endomycorrhizas
   15. Ectomycorrhizas
   16. Ectendomycorrhizas
   17. The effects of mycorrhizas and their commercial applications, and the impact of environmental and climate changes
   18. Introduction to lichens
   19. Introduction to endophytes
   20. Epiphytes
   21. Chapter 13 References and further reading
   22. Buy a PDF of Chapter 13
3. Chapter 14: Fungi as pathogens of plants

13.20 Epiphytes

Plant surfaces, like any other surface, provides potential habitats to fungi. We have already mentioned the growth of lichens on tree trunks, branches and twigs; of yeasts on leaves and fruits and in the nectaries of flowers (which, though fluid, are external to the plant); and of rhizomorphs of such pathogens as Armillaria, ‘scrambling’ over the surface of potential hosts. Fungi that live on the surfaces of plants are called epiphytes. Some show special adaptations to the plant surface, which is a challenging environment, being dry, waxy and exposed to direct sunlight. So epiphytes are often pigmented (particularly melanised) to protect them from UV radiation, and some can digest lipids sufficiently to use the waxy layer covering the leaf epidermis. The yeast form usually has a short life cycle, which enables yeast epiphytes to multiply even if favourable conditions last only a short time. Fungal epiphytes are a varied and polyphyletic group with a worldwide distribution; the majority belong in the phylum Ascomycota and foliar epiphytes probably evolved as early as the Permian period, about 300 million years ago (Hongsanan et al., 2016).

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Updated July, 2019