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Disease Note Discula-caused Dogwood Anthracnose in Auburn, Alabama. W. A. Carey, School of Forestry, Auburn University, AL 36849-5418. W. D. Kelley, School of Forestry, Auburn University, AL 36849-5418. Plant Dis. 75:431. Accepted for publication 31 October 1990. Copyright 1991 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-75-0431E. An anthracnose disease of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.), caused by Discula sp., was first reported in southeastern New York in the late 1970s (1). It has been expanding south down the Appalachians (2) and has recently been reported from some northern border counties of Alabama. We found fruiting bodies of Discula on blighted leaves and dead twigs of dogwoods located on the Auburn University campus and along city streets of Auburn (Lee County), Alabama. Conidiomata of Discula sp. were identified on necrotic leaves and twigs from four of five dogwoods examined within a I-mi radius of the campus. At present (mid-August 1990), all dogwood trees within the city generally are drought-stressed and in poor condition. Conidiomata characteristic of Discula were found consistently on leaves with large, uniformly brown, blighted areas, but the role of drought stress on disease incidence and severity is not known. This is the first report of this fungus in east central Alabama, about 200 miles south of the previously reported range. |