Pitch Canker Disease of Loblolly and Pond Pines in North Carolina Plantations. E. G. Kuhlman, Principal Plant Pathologist, USDA Forest Service, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Athens, GA 30602. S. Cade, Unit Leader, Pest Control, Southern Forest Research Department, Weyerhaeuser Company, P.O. Box 1060, Hot Springs, AR 71901. Plant Dis. 69:175-176. Accepted for publication 30 October 1984. 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, 1985. DOI: 10.1094/PD-69-175.

Pitch canker disease, caused by Fusarium moniliforme var. subglutinans, is reported for the first time in plantations of loblolly (Pinus taeda) and pond pine (P. serotina). In 1983, pitch canker caused a high incidence of dieback on plantations in eastern North Carolina. Loblolly pines with terminal dieback were smaller in both height and diameter than healthy trees, whereas only pond pines with severe terminal dieback were shorter but not smaller in diameter than healthy pond pines.