Fusiform Rust: Identifying Characteristics
| Identifying the disease: | Infected pine trees bear spindle-shaped branch galls that, in the spring, are covered with yellow-orange blisters called "aecia." Infected oak leaves bear brown, fuzzy patches of fungus composed of hairlike structures called "telia." The spores that infect pine trees come from the telia and the spores that infect oak come from the aecia. |
| Susceptible trees: | Of the commercially important pine species, slash, loblolly, and longleaf pines are susceptible. Over 20 of the southern oaks including water, laurel, willow, and southern red oak can be infected. |