Staving Off A Nightmare

In what is described as a nightmare come true, plant pathologists are trying to halt the spread of a fungus that already has killed tens of thousands of oak trees in California. They’ve discovered that a southern California nursery has shipped potentially infected plants to more than 600 nurseries in 39 states.

"We're dealing with a significant emergency," says Steve Lyle, a spokesperson for the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). As many as a dozen more nurseries in southern California are probably infected.

Since 1995, large numbers of tanoaks (Lithocarpus densiflorus), coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) and black oaks (Quercus kelloggii) have been dying in California's coastal counties. The epidemic, referred to as Sudden Oak Death, was first seen on tanoak in Mill Valley (Marin County) in 1995. Since then, it has been confirmed in twelve central coastal counties.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at March 23, 2004 08:37 AM | TrackBack