Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Fungi
Phylum	Ascomycota
Subphylum	Pezizomycotina
Class	Sordariomycetes
Subclass	Hypocreomycetidae
Order	Hypocreales
Family	Nectriaceae
Genus	Calonectria

Scientific Name

Calonectria pseudonaviculata

Scientific Name Synonyms

Cylindrocladium buxicola

Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum

Common Name

Boxwood blight

Overview

Origin: Cylindrocladium buxicola, a boxwood blight was identified from plants in the United Kingdom and in New Zealand in 2002. The symptoms of the disease are dark brown spots on the leaves, black streaks on the stems and severe defoliation.
Life Cycle: Germination of the spores can occur as quickly as three hours after infection. Penetration of the host tissue follows about five hours after the initial infection. The mycelium emerges through the stomata three days after infection onset. Conidia are produced shortly afterwards. High humidity favors higher rate of infection.
Distribution: Cylindrocladium buxicola has now also been recorded in other European countries including Belgium, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Holland.
Control Efforts: Research and study trials using fungicides to treat boxwoods infected with Cylindrocladium buxicola are ongoing.

References

Béatrice Henricot, Alastair Culham. 2002. Cylindrocladium buxicola, a new species affecting Buxus spp., and its phylogenetic status. Mycologia, November/December 2002 vol. 94 no. 6 980-997. [1]
Studies on the control of Cylindrocladium buxicola. 2008. Royal Horticultural Society. [2]
Invasive Species Compendium. www.cabi.org. [3]

Images from Bugwood.org

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