parasitica
9.9
A group of fungi that live on plants and make them sick
- noun
:
parasitario
- Farmers have reported the loss of their crops due to parasitica, a disease-causing fungus.
Examples
-
Perhaps the most demoralizing of all unwitting introductions, however, was that of chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica), which arrived on Asiatic chestnuts planted for nut production.
Academic text (2005) -
The chestnut trees were severely affected by parasitica, which is a fungus causing blight.
-
The most abundant of these is Placobdella parasitica, the blood-sucking leech.
Academic text (1992) -
Research indicates that parasitica thrives on infected plants, leading to significant agricultural losses.
Surface Forms
parasitica singular
parasiticas plural
Etymology
Parasitica as a noun for fungi comes from the Greek parasitos, 'one who eats at another's table', and is the same root as the English word parasite. So when scientists call a fungus parasitica, they mean it lives on plants and damages them by taking food from the plant.
