Volutella leaf blight and stem canker on Japanese pachysandra in the Czech Republic

• Published in: Plant protection science 2007-03, Vol.43 (1), p.10-12
• Main Author: Safrankova, I
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ascospores; Blight; czech republic; Girdles; Imperfect state; Leaf blight; Leaves; Ornamental plants; Pachysandra; Pachysandra terminalis; Perithecia; Plant diseases; pseudonectria; Pseudonectria pachysandricola; Spores; Stem canker; Stems
• ISSN: 1212-2580; 1805-9341
• DOI: 10.17221/2350-PPS

Woody ornamental cover plants of Japanese pachysandra (P. terminalis S. et Z.) are planted in parks and gardens in the Czech Republic. A serious disease of these plants is Volutella leaf blight and stem canker caused by the fungus Pseudonectria pachysandricola (anamorph Volutella pachysandricola). It was described by DODGE (1944) in the United States and appeared in Europe in the 1980s. Volutella pachysandricola was isolated from Japanese pachysandra (P. terminalis cvs. Green Carpet and Variegata) from leaf spots and stem and stolon cankers in Brno in 2000−2003. The tan or brown spots with brown margins, often with concentric zones, develop on infected leaves. Stem and stolon cankers appear as water-soaked diseased areas, the stem often turns brown, shrivels and girdles. The infection often begins in damaged or senescent plant parts and spreads into the healthy tissues. Pink-orange sporodochia with spores form on newly killed stems and leaves during humid spring and summer periods. Ascospores develop in red-orange perithecia on the same tissues.