Fire Warts

A plant disease with a cruel name (if you were to ask a Fire Elemental) that causes the tubers of the Silver Leafed Snowdrop to burn and rot over time. It causes red and orange spots to grow out on the tubers, hence the name, before they quickly shrink and rot. It is caused by a similar fungal species to the one that works with the plant to keep it alive, but instead it grows into and on the tubers the plant produces.

Transmission

The fungus that causes Fire Warts spreads through its airborne spores, which can travel several kilometres away to land on the deep snow of the Frosted Fields. The spores are able to survive dormant for a significant amount of time. Once they are heated up (by the growth of a Silver Leafed Snowdrop), the spore germinates. The mycelium grow in between the cellular space of the plant's root and tuber system. These filaments secrete enzymes that break down the cell walls, and absorb the nutrients.

Symptoms

Once the infection has been established, the fungus continues to digest the plant's root system, causing disintegration of the roots. It also at this time causes the bright red and orange cankers to appear on the tubers of the plant, and it is common to see some amount of burns. While this happens, the only above ground symptom is that the plant grows poorly. Eventually, some orange 'warts' will appear on the stem of the plant as the disease progresses to rot the leaves. From these dying tissues comes the sporangium, which produce the spores that will be windblown to their next victim. The disease does require heat to occur, which is why it occurs exclusively to the Sliver Leafed Snowdrop, considering its unique situation. Once it is consuming the plant, it is able to cause the same warming reaction that the mutualist fungus that grows with the plant does, aiding its own progression.

Prevention

The best way to contain the spread of the disease is to quickly remove and destroy any plants that are infected to stop the continual spread of the disease from dying tissue. For cultivated plants, maintaining a strong healthy mutualist fungal population is best, as the pathologic and mutualistic fungi compete. If the beneficial fungus and the plant are kept healthy, then the fungus that causes fungus warts is less likely to be able to manage to invade the plant.

Major epidemic

Fire wart disease is relatively rare due to the spread out nature of the Silver Leaf Snowdrop. Generally, the spores from an infected plant land on bare snow. While it does still spread, it hardly causes a widespread epidemic.

As such, it was the actual crops of the plant where the disease began to be noticed. Destroying tons of plants, and causing many to have to try and survive without a staple vegetable. Given the red and orange colouring of the growths, the disease quickly came to be nicknamed Fire Warts. Many of the farmers believed the disease to have been orchestrated by the Fires rather than a natural occurrence.

Fungicides only made it worse, as they killed all the spores in the snow patches, destroying the mutualistic fungus that the plant needed to survive. And the spores from other crops were still airborne, landing in the areas of high density of weakened plants.

Eventually over time to destroy any infected plants, and making sure to re-add a strong mix of beneficial fungi to the snow after using fungicide seemed to slow its progression in the cultivated plants.

Origin

Natural

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Silver Leafed Snowdrop