The Trail Companion

By Scott Heeschen.

In our Fall 2000 issue, we reported on the Sudden Oak Death syndrome that has killed tanoaks and coastal lives oaks in coastal California. Rhododendrons were recently found to be affected by the same fungus, with similar symptoms of redish or black sap bleeding and cankers below the bleeding. The fungus has also been isolated on dying huckleberry plants around Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods, and on shreve oaks (a species similar to coast live oak) in Santa Cruz County
      The origin of the fungus is still uncertain, but scientists have discovered that it is genetically similar to a fungus that has destroyed many Port Orford cedars in the Pacific Northwest. That fungus may have hybridized, giving birth to a new species with oak and rhododendron-killing abilities.
      The UC Berkeley's Sudden Oak Death Information website includes press releases detailing the new discoveries, as well as a wealth of other information about the fungus and its hosts.

Related Stories

Sudden Oak Death (Fall 2000)

Oak Mortality Syndrome: A report from the Santa Cruz Mountains Bioregional Council meeting, Sept. 28, 2000 (Fall 2000)

     
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