Disease Note.

Diseases of Kenaf in South Carolina. J. H. Blake, Department of Plant Pathology and Physiology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634. J. D. Mueller, and S. A. Lewis, Department of Plant Pathology and Physiology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634. Plant Dis. 78:102, 1994. Accepted for publication 15 October 1993. Copyright 1994 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-78-0102A.

During evaluation of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) as a potential crop for South Carolina, five fields (approximately 27 ha) of commercial and experimental plantings of cv. Everglades 41 were surveyed in the fall of 1991. Zonate leaf spot caused by Cristulariella moricola (Hino) Redhead was found in all fields and affected 98-100% of the plants. Anthracnose caused by Collelotrichum sp. was observed in four fields on approximately 5% of the plants. Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood) caused severe galling and infected more than 50% of the plants in four fields. Crown canker caused by Fusarium sp., charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goidanich, southern stem blight caused by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc, and root-rotting Rhizoctonia, Pythium, and Fusarium spp. were all associated with plants infected by root-knot nematode. Stem fasciation and a stem canker of unknown etiology were observed in two and three fields, respectively