PLEOSPORALES: The Pleosporales is estimated to contain 23 families, 332 genera and more than 4700 species. The majority of species are saprobes on decaying plant material
in fresh water, marine, or terrestrial environments, but several species are
also associated with living plants as parasites,
epiphytes or endophytes.
Epiphytes are non-parasitic plants that grow on trees or other plants, like
orchids and bromeliads in tropical environments. Temperate zone epiphytes
include a variety of lichens, liverworts, mosses and ferns. Endophytes are
fungi (or bacteria) that live within host plants. Many appear to enable plants
to survive stress caused by drought, insects and grazing herbivores. Only one example is depicted here, Apiosorina morbosa, which tends to infect cherry trees.
