- smut
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/smut/, n., v., smutted, smutting.n.1. a particle of soot; sooty matter.2. a black or dirty mark; smudge.3. indecent language or publications; obscenity.4. Plant Pathol.a. a disease of plants, esp. cereal grasses, characterized by the conversion of affected parts into black, powdery masses of spores, caused by fungi of the order Ustilaginales.b. a fungus causing this disease.v.t.5. to soil or smudge.v.i.6. to become affected with smut, as a plant.[1580-90; akin to earlier smit (OE smitte), by assoc. with SMUDGE, SMUTCH]
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Disease of cereals, corn, grasses, onion, and sorghum, caused by many species of fungi (see fungus).Spores accumulate in sootlike masses (sori) that form within blisters in seeds, leaves, stems, flower parts, and bulbs. The sori usually break up into a black powder that is readily dispersed by wind. Many smut fungi enter embryos or seedling plants, develop throughout the plant, and appear externally only as the plants near maturity. Other smuts are localized, infecting actively growing tissues. Control includes growing resistant varieties in noninfested soil, treating seeds with fungicide, using disease-free transplants, and destroying infected plants or plant parts before the spores are released.* * *
disease of cereals, corn (maize), grasses, onion, and sorghum, caused by many species of fungi. It is characterized by resting bodies (spores) that accumulate in sootlike masses called sori, formed within blisters in seeds, leaves, stems, flower parts, and bulbs. The sori usually break up into a black powder that is readily dispersed by the wind. Many smut fungi enter embryos or seedling plants, develop systemically, and appear externally only near maturity. Other smuts are localized, infecting actively growing tissues. Control includes growing resistant varieties in noninfested soil, treating seeds with a fungicide, using disease-free transplants, and destroying infected plants or plant parts before the spores are released. See also bunt; corn smut.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
