First reports of Cylindrocladium buxicola in the USA and Canada
In October 2011, APHIS confirmed the first detection of Cylindrocladium buxicola* (formerly EPPO Alert List) in the USA. Box blight was first detected in North Carolina (Surry county) and subsequently in Connecticut (Middlesex county) and Virginia (Carroll county). Shortly after this first record, C. buxicola was found in the following US states: Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. C. buxicola has been detected on box plants in parks and gardens, garden centres and nurseries.
In January 2012, the presence of the fungus was also reported in one nursery in British Columbia, Canada. These are the first confirmed reports of C. buxicola in North America.
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* Cylindrocladium buxicola is considered to be a synonym of Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum. Molecular evidence has also placed C. pseudonaviculatum in the teleomorph genus Calonectria, however Calonectria pseudonaviculata has never been observed in the field causing a disease.
Crous PW, Groenewald JZ, Hill CF (2002) Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum sp. nov. from New Zealand, and new Cylindrocladium records from Vietnam. Sydowia 54, 23–34.
Henricot B, Culham A (2002) Cylindrocladium buxicola, a new species affecting Buxus spp., and its phylogenetic status. Mycologia 94,980–997.
Lombard L, Crous PW, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ (2010) Phylogeny and systematics of the genus Calonectria. Studies in Mycology 66, 31-69.
Sources
NAPPO Phytosanitary Pest Alert System. Official Pest Reports. USA (2011-12-07) Detection of boxwood blight, Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum, in Connecticut, North Carolina, and Virginia. http://www.pestalert.org/oprDetail.cfm?oprID=508
INTERNET.
Cornell University. Extension University Center. New blight ravages boxwoods. http://ccesuffolk.org/assets/Horticulture-Leaflets/Boxwood-Blight-Cornell-Fact-Sheet-updated-1-12.pdf
Master Gardeners Association of British Columbia. Boxwood blight found in B.C. http://www.mgabc.org/content/boxwood-blight-found-bc
Oregon government website. Pest Alert Boxwood blight: a new disease of boxwoods recently found in Eastern United States, Canada and Oregon. http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/NURSERY/docs/pdf/boxwood_blightalert2012.pdf?ga=t
State of Rhode Island (US). Department of Environmental Management. The ‘box blight’ pathogen: Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum = Cylindrocladium buxicola (Teleo. Calonectria pseudonaviculata). http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/agricult/pdf/cylindrocladium.pdf