The American Phytopathological Society hosts a yearly meeting that includes an art contest celebrating the art of phytopathology. There are different categories from nature to humor to arts and crafts showcasing that plant pathogens can sometimes be beautiful (or at least funny) as well as destructive. When I found out about this I decided to try one of my first plant pathology themed bakes which ended up being a diseased tree stump cake.

Featured are meringue mushrooms, caramel slime molds, spun sugar mycelia, a bit of powdered sugar mildew, and chocolate lemon leaves infected with citrus canker and citrus greening. The cake ended up winning first place in arts and crafts and best in show overall. It was also gobbled up pretty quickly by some hungry grad students and post docs in the break room 🙂