Further outbreaks of Phytophthora ramorum in Staffordshire and Scotland

Further outbreaks of Phytophthora ramorum have been discovered on two sites in Staffordshire, Horticulture Week has reported. Earlier this month, it was also reported that there had been eight outbreaks of the disease in Scotland during last autumn.

Last month, the Food and Environmental Research Agency (FERA) reported that there had also been an outbreak of the disease in Devon. Inspectors from the agency destroyed batches of infected plants in November and December.
Phytophthora ramorum, which is also known as Sudden Oak Death syndrome, affects a number of tree and plant species, including oak trees and rhododendrons. FERA recently destroyed a batch of rhododendrons in Scotland that were infected with the disease.

Last month FERA intercepted several batches of plants that were found to be infected with leaf miner. Amongst the plants destroyed were a batch of 6,000 chrysanthemums and a batch of 2,000 wallflowers from Kenya.