The Powdery Mildews (Erysiphales) of Wales: An Identification Guide and Census Catalogue

Powdery mildews are an important group of plant pathogens that affect a wide variety of plants, both wild and cultivated.

The powdery mildew fungi form a well circumscribed group of parasitic fungi in the Order Erysiphales within the Phylum Ascomycetes (the “spore shooters”). If the host plant can be accurately identified, the task of identifying the powdery mildew is relatively easy. Presented here is a catalogue of host plant species and their powdery mildews which have been reported from Wales or which might occur in Wales, with a synopsis of characters to enable a fungus to be identified where more than one occurs on a particular host.

Over 700 taxa of powdery mildews are known world-wide with over 166 reported from Britain. Catalogued here by the Vice-counties within Wales in which they occur, are over 122 taxa of powdery mildews. Representatives of all five Tribes of the powdery mildews occur in Wales. As many of the wild host plants diminish in extent, the fungi that are dependent on them grow scarcer.

This book is one of a series produced by these authors which might be regarded as work in progress towards generating more records and providing a better understanding of the relationships between important fungi and their hosts. As such this work should be of interest and use beyond the geographical range covered here. The authors hope that  this guide will stimulate further study and enable conservation priorities to be established.

The main text is in English with a short bilingual summary in English and Welsh