Plant-Borne Disease Could Pose Forest Threat

NEW HAVEN (AP) — Some Connecticut experts says the state’s forests could be threatened by a disease that rode into the state on plants from Oregon.

Ten thousand rhododendron plants shipped from Oregon to Connecticut between February and September may have been exposed to sudden oak death disease, according to a federal agency.

“This potentially catastrophic disease has been unleashed in our state and could go through our forests and wipe out our oak trees,” said Karl Wagener, executive director of Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality.

Mr Wagener said forests in Connecticut are composed 20 percent of oak trees.

The US Department of Agriculture did not notify the state of the possible contamination until late October, Louis Magnarelli, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, said Monday.

“The few plants that we were able to locate and test at the retail level did test positive for the disease,” Mr  Magnarelli said.

Sudden oak death disease not only destroys certain plants, it also attacks the inner tissues of oak trees, killing them in about two years.

“The nursery and landscaping industry will also be affected,” Jeff Ward, chief scientist in the Department of Forestry and Horticulture, said.

Sudden oak death was first delivered to Connecticut in 2003 in bonsai-type camellia plants. About 100 customers received the plants in November and December of that year. Most of those plants died indoors and others were disposed of properly, according to Mr Magnarelli.