Ustilago

Origin

From the genus name.

Full definition of ustilago

Noun

1. Any of the genus Ustilago of smut fungi parasitic on grasses.
• 1859, It was generally believed, before the experiments made by M. Kuhn, but without any foundation, and upon simple conjecture, that the seminules or spores of the ustilagoes and uredoes of the cereals penetrate by the radicles of the plant in order to arrive, creeping by degrees, to the leaves and seeds of those vegetables.