T
here have been recent news
reports about sudden oak death
(SOD), caused by the fungus
Phytophthora ramorum.
SOD is a
severe disease of oak and tanoak in
certain Pacific Northwest fog forest
areas.
In March 2004 Phytophthora
ramorum was found in two...
More
T
here have been recent news
reports about sudden oak death
(SOD), caused by the fungus
Phytophthora ramorum.
SOD is a
severe disease of oak and tanoak in
certain Pacific Northwest fog forest
areas.
In March 2004 Phytophthora
ramorum was found in two large
ornamental nurseries in southern
California (Monrovia Nursery in
Azusa and Specialty Plants Inc.
, in
San Marcos).
This detection demonstrates that the pathogen is not
necessarily limited to the moist
coastal regions of northern California and southern Oregon.
At least
one of the two nurseries distributes
nursery stock nationwide, including
Massachusetts.
To date, Phytophthora ramorum has not been found
in Massachusetts, though it has
been positively identified in Florida
and Georgia.
The Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural
Resources (MDAR) is monitoring
this situation carefully.
A number of
surveys are planned by MDAR, the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, and the
USDA Animal and Plant Health
Less