Seedling Blight of Sicklepod Caused by Alternaria cassiae. H. L. Walker, Research Plant Pathologist, Biological Weed Control Research, Southern Weed Science Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Stoneville, MS 38776. Plant Dis. 66:426-428. Accepted for publication 28 November 1981. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1982. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-426.

Alternaria cassiae isolated from diseased sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia) was pathogenic to sicklepod, coffee senna (Cassia occidentalis), and showy crotalaria (Crotalaria spectabilis). Soybean (Glycine max), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), corn (Zea mays), and 26 other crop and weed species in nine families were resistant to the pathogen. Host range and virulence studies indicated this fungus to have potential for use as a biological herbicide.

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