Signs of Sudden Oak Death include leaf spots, twig die-back, and bark cankers, which are calluses on trees, often seeping black or reddish ooze.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The pathogen which causes Sudden Oak Death, a plant disease that has killed large tracts of oaks and affected many native plant species in California, Oregon, and Europe, has been found in Illinois.
Phytophthera ramorum, the causal agent of Sudden Oak Death, has been confirmed in ornamental plants at 10 Walmart locations in Cook, Jackson, Jefferson, Lee, Macon, Monroe, St. Clair, Stephenson, and Will counties, and one Hy-Vee location in McDonough County through cooperative efforts between the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as diagnostic support from University of Illinois, Michigan State, Cornell, and Kansas State Universities, and USDA labs.
The issue was first uncovered by an Indiana confirmation at a Walmart in late May on rhododendrons from Parkhill Plants in Oklahoma, which sourced the plants from nurseries in Washington and British Columbia.
Shipping records were provided to Illinois officials shortly thereafter. Eighteen states in total received these plants.
IDOA and USDA field staffs began visiting identified sites in late May inspecting the plants with a primary focus on rhododendron as the main suspected carrier of the disease, but also inspected other known host plants such as azalea, viburnum, and lilac.
Read more here, or for details and photos, visit www.suddenoakdeath.org.
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