Needle Diseases
Brown Felt Blight
Brown felt blight is a snow mold. It produces brown felt-like mycelium on needles covered with snow. This disease can often be found at high elevation sites where snow covers branches and trees. This is Neopeckia which occurs on pines.
Brown felt blight on fir - Herpotrichia
Perithecia form on needles within the brown mycelium.
Asci and ascospores (4-celled) of Herpotrichia. A brown felt snow mold that grows on firs.
Crushed perithecia of Neopeckia under the microscope showing ascospores.
Neopeckia occurs on pines and has 2-celled ascospores. The spores have broken out of their asci when the perithecium was mounted.
Sooty Molds
Sooty molds are dark colored fungi that grow on aphid exudates. They can occur on conifers as well as hardwoods.