The UK got it, now New Zealand's got it...Scoop has a press release from Biosecurity NZ that says Phytophthora kernoviae has been found on custard apple plants (Annona chrysophylla) in Northland. The pathogen (technically a water mold, not a fungus) was also found in soil samples taken from a second site. Since P. kernoviae has been shown to damage a variety of ornamental plant species, this is not good news for NZ.
UK scientists discovered the pathogen in 2003 while doing surveys for a related species, P. ramorum (sudden oak death or ramorum blight). Some of you may remember that the US had its own crisis with P. ramorum back in 2004.
No comments:
Post a Comment