Disease Note.

Cronartium himalayense, Causal Agent of Chir Pine Stem Rust, Discovered in Nepal. H. V. T. Cotter, Biology Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061. M. K. Adhikari, and J. B. H. Rai. Botanical Survey and Herbarium, Godavari, Lalitpur, Nepal; and Box 1750, Kathmandu, Nepal. Plant Dis. 71:761. Accepted for publication 22 April 1987. Copyright 1987 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-71-0761C.

Stem rust of the three-needled hard pine Pinus roxburghii Sarg. (chir pine) was collected in Rasuwa District in north central Nepal during June 1985. The site was between Syabrubensi and Khangiung on a west-facing dry slope at 2,070 m. The vegetation was an open chir pine forest with an understory of grasses and shrubs. Several young trees were infected. The infected branches were swollen and covered by the conspicuou aecia of the causal agent Cronarlium himalayense Bagchee. The collection. VC 1132. was deposited at the National Herbarium of Nepal (KATH). This record of C. himalayense extends its known indigenous range to the southeast. Its presence in Nepal is of concern in reforestation bccause it could cause extensive mortalily of young chir pine. as it has in India (1). Accurate distribution records for C. himalayense are important for quarantine efforts because of possible disastrous consequences if the pathogen is introduced into countries with susceptible hard pines (2). This pathogen has been reported from northwest India. Pakistan, the Philippines. China (Tibet). and now Nepal. References: (1) B. K. Bakshi and Singh. Indian For. 98:239-240. 1972. (2) P. Spaulding. Plant Dis. Rep. 36: 159-161, 19S2.