Root Disease of Delonix regia and Associated Tree Species in the Mariana Islands Caused by Phellinus noxius. Charles S. Hodges, Chief Plant Pathologist, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, HI 96813. Joaquin A. Tenorio, Entomologist, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan, North Mariana Islands 96950. Plant Dis. 68:334-336. Accepted for publication 12 November 1983. 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, 1984. DOI: 10.1094/PD-68-334.

A root and butt rot of flame tree, Delonix regia, in the Mariana Islands was found to be caused by the fungus Phellinus noxius. Several associated tree species, including Albizia lebbek, Bauhinia sp., Casuarina sp., Citrus sp., Erythrina sp., Leucaena leucocephala, and Thespesia populnea, were also infected by the fungus. The disease is characterized by slowly enlarging disease centers and a thick, dark brown mycelial sheath around the bases of infected trees. A serious root disease of breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis, previously reported from other island groups in the Western Pacific as caused by a Corticium sp., was found to be caused by Phillinus noxius.