State Officials Seek Homeowners' Help to Locate Possibly Diseased Lilac Plants
August 11, 2006
Phytophthora ramorum the organism commonly known as Sudden Oak Death or Ramorum leaf blight, has been discovered in Maine. Sudden Oak Death has killed thousands of trees in California and is a plant disease of national economic significance. Officials with the Maine Department of Agriculture and the Maine Department of Conservation have been surveying nursery, garden centers and urban forest sites for the past three years in an effort to assure that Sudden Oak Death does not establish a foothold in Maine. In all, more than 70 horticultural businesses and 25 urban sites have been surveyed and hundreds of plant segments have been sent to laboratories for testing. To date, there is no indication that this disease has become established in Maine
In June, plant health officials in Maine were notified that plants at an Oregon nursery had tested positive for the disease and shipped plant material to locations in Maine. The shipments had occurred in late April. The garden centers that received the plants were inspected and one plant sample tested positive for the disease. The garden center staff has cooperated fully with state officials and all affected plant material remaining at the garden centers has been destroyed.
State plant health officials are currently trying to locate thirteen lilac plants purchased only from Agway Garden Centers in Winslow, Skowhegan or Farmingdale earlier this year before the state was notified about the potential problem. The affected plants are one variety of common lilac ‘Ludwig Spaethii’. In flower, the blossoms are a deep reddish-purple. Anyone who may know the location of these plants is urged to contact the Maine Department of Agriculture at (207) 287-3891. Sudden Oak Death is able to spread among a wide variety of plants and could have economic consequences for Maine’s horticulture and forestry industries.
Also see USDA AMENDS SUDDEN OAK DEATH REGULATIONS
