Sudden Oak Death Syndrome

Auburn, March 26, 2004 --- The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries has issued an emergency rule to stop the shipment of some nursery plants from California and other states into Alabama in hopes of reducing the potential spread of a devastating disease known as sudden oak death syndrome.

A plant pathologist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System said the department chose to quarantine nursery stock from California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia because the fungus that causes SODS was discovered in a shipment of camellias to a Tuscaloosa area facility.

“In the last several weeks, Phytophthora ramorum was confirmed in six container-grown camellia cultivars from two large commercial nurseries in California,” said Dr. Austin Hagan, Extension plant pathologist.

“It’s certainly a prudent call by Ag and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks,” said Hagan.

“There is a concern among forest professionals and others that SODS could be the next dogwood anthracnose, chestnut blight or Dutch Elm disease. This disease has caused the death of tens of thousands of oak trees in northern California forests since it was identified in the mid-1990s.”

Oaks are the primary targets of the disease, but Hagan added that other trees and shrubs are susceptible to SODS.

Because the disease can affect a number of trees and shrubs, the quarantine order prohibits the shipment into Alabama of all plants and plant parts of the following genera:

Abies (firs)

Acer (maples)

Aesculus (buckeyes, horsechestnut, etc.)

Arbutus (strawberry tree, madrone, etc.)

Arctostaphylos (bearberry, manzanita, etc.)

Camellia (camellias, sasanquas, etc.)

Castanea (chestnuts)

Corylus (hazelnut, filbert, etc.)

Fagus (beeches)

Hamamelis (witch hazel)

Heteromeles (toyon)

Kalmia (mountain laurel)

Lithocarpus (tanoak)

Lonicera (honeysuckles)

Pieris (pieris, andromeda)

Pittosporum (pittosporums)

Pseudotsuga (Douglas fir)

Quercus (oaks)

Rhamnus (buckthorns)

Rhododendron (rhododendrons, azaleas, etc.)

Rubus (blackberries, raspberries, etc.)

Sequoia (coast redwood, etc.)

Syringa (lilacs)

Taxus (yews)

Toxicodendron

Trientalis

Umbellularia

Vaccinium (blueberries)

Viburnum (viburnums, snowball bush, laurustinus, etc.)

It also bans any other plant genera found to be susceptible to this disease and associated soil. This includes nursery stock, logs, lumber, bark chips, mulch, firewood, sawdust, other plant products that may contain pieces of bark and associated soil.

Hagan said the risk of SODS appearing in Alabama landscapes now is quite low.

“Unless some container grown camellias or other host plants from California or the Pacific Northwest were established in a landscape, the risk of a disease outbreak is extremely low.

“More likely is that we will have homeowners who have oaks and woody shrubs die attribute those deaths mistakenly to SODS. Oaks and woody shrubs can succumb from a wide range of diseases, disorders and insect pests that have symptoms very similar to sudden oak death syndrome.”

Dr. Ken Tilt, an Extension horticulturist, said most consumers will not see a change in the amount of plants available at the state’s garden centers.

“It may become a problem later on for the state’s wholesale nurseries who buy tree liners (small trees that will be grown into larger sizes for retail sale). Many of those tree liners come from the Pacific Northwest,” said Tilt. “Oregon is one of the largest producers of maple liners. Nurseries will have to find new suppliers, and demand is already outpacing supply. It could mean fewer trees available to consumers some time in the future.”

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