A branch from a wilting fragrant sumac tree (Rhus aromatica Aiton) in an established ornamental planting was submitted to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in 1994. The branch exhibited dark brown streaks in the sapwood. Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend.:Fr. was subsequently isolated from the discolored wood. To confirm pathogenicity, 2-year-old potted sumacs (0.5 to 1 m high)—fragrant, skunkbrush (R. trilobata Nutt. ex Torr. & A. Gray), smooth (R. glabra L.), and staghorn (R. typhina L.) species—were inoculated with the isolate by cutting into the bark to the xylem with a scalpel and applying approximately 0.1 ml of a 106 conidia/ml suspension into the wound. Inoculated trees were then placed on a greenhouse bench. Three trees of each species were inoculated and the experiment was repeated once. All inoculated skunkbrush and fragrant sumacs wilted and died within 3 months, whereas none of the smooth and staghorn sumacs were affected. F. oxysporum was consistently reisolated from wilted, but not healthy, trees. The host range of this isolate (FRC 0-1916) is different from that of F. oxysporum f. sp. rhois W. C. Synder, Toole, & Hepting, which was reported to be pathogenic to staghorn but not other sumac species (1). This is the first report of F. oxysporum causing wilt of fragrant and skunkbrush sumacs.
Reference: (1) E. R. Toole. Phytopathology 39:754, 1949.
