bull-oak vs Choke

Allocasuarina fraseriana compared with Epichloe typhina

Key Differences

• bull-oak is Least Concern while Choke is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	bull-oak	Choke
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Ascomycota (Sac Fungi)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Sordariomycetes (Sordariomycetes)
Order	Fagales (Beeches & Oaks)	Hypocreales (Hypocreales)
Family	Casuarinaceae	Clavicipitaceae
Genus	Allocasuarina	Epichloe
Species	Allocasuarina fraseriana	Epichloe typhina

Conservation Status

bull-oak

LC — Least Concern

Choke

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	bull-oak	Choke
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

bull-oak

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Choke

Habitat

Native to North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Found in United States.

bull-oak

The bull-oak (Allocasuarina fraseriana) is a species in the genus Allocasuarina. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Choke

Choke (Epichloe typhina) is an endophytic and pathogenic fungus in the family Clavicipitaceae, phylum Ascomycota, that colonises the tissues of various cool-season grasses (Poaceae) across Europe and North America. The name refers to the disease it causes — infected grass tillers are typically 'choked' (prevented from flowering) when the fungus produces a dense, white to cream-coloured, stromata (a compact fungal structure) that surrounds the flowering stem before it can emerge, suppressing seed production. Epichloe species exist along a mutualism-parasitism continuum; some strains are biotrophic endophytes living almost entirely within grass tissues without obvious symptoms and conferring benefits to the host such as increased drought resistance and deterrence of herbivores through alkaloid production, while others — including E. typhina — are more parasitic in nature, sterilising infected host tillers. The fungus spreads via airborne ascospores produced on its stroma that infect new host plants. Related Epichloe/Neotyphodium endophytes are of great practical importance to agriculture as they produce ergot alkaloids and other compounds that can cause toxicosis in livestock grazing infected pasture grasses. As a fungal pathogen/endophyte rather than a wildlife species, it is Not Evaluated by the IUCN.