First report of Kabatiella microsticta on hemerocallis in Norway
Since 2009, distinct leaf spots have been observed on daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) in areas where it is planted at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, located in Ås (Akershus county), Norway. In spring, initial leaf spots were small, circular with a water-soaked appearance, but turning brown as they enlarged (eventually becoming greyish in the center). Leaf spots developped faster longitudinally than transversely and often coalesced. By mid-summer, affected plants were often severely disfigured. Incubation of symptomatic leaves in high moisture chambers resulted in growth of a fungus that was morphologically identified as Kabatiella microsticta (=Aureobasidium microstictum). Little information is available on this fungus but according to the literature, K. microsticta occurs in the following countries:
Asia: China (first found in 2011 in a nursery in Jilin province), Japan (Honshu).
North America: USA (Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia).
This is the first time that K. microsticta is reported from Norway, and according to the available data, this is also a first record for Europe.
Sources
Bai QR, Han S, Xie YY, Dong R, Gao J, Li Y (2012) First report of daylily leaf streak caused by Kabatiella microsticta in China. Plant Disease 96(10), 1579-1579.
Leahy RM, Schubert TS (1996) Daylily leaf streak. Plant Pathology Circular no. 376. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Division of Plant Industry, 3 pp. https://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/9808/135116/pp376.pdf
Yoshikawa M, Yokoyama T (1987) Leaf blight of day lily caused by Aureobasidium microstictum (Bubák) W.B. Cooke. Annals of the Phytopathological Society of Japan 53, 606-615.