View Full Version : Phytophthora ramorum, keep em peeled for it.
Paganwolf
20-01-2005, 19:40
Check this out worth looking out for if your in the area.....Phytophthora: destructive parasitic fungi causing brown rot in plants.
..http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/WCAS-4Z5JLL
Check this out worth looking out for if your in the area.....Phytophthora: destructive parasitic fungi causing brown rot in plants.
..http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/WCAS-4Z5JLL
You would think that the rhodedendron not being native to this country and appearing to be one of the main hosts of the Phytophthora parasite would come under more scrutiny.
From what has been posted on this forum before we know that it is spreading quite rapidly across the country and yet no one seems to have anything to say about it being a threat to our native species by being a potential host to a parasite. :cry:
Paganwolf
20-01-2005, 20:27
its well worth keeping our eyes open for, its quite a nasty this one!
There is a horrific rhodey problem on Lundy. They are cut down, then the stumps burnt, then they are sprayed every 6 months and they still come back! :banghead:
I agree with PaganWolf- it looks nasty :roll:
Paganwolf
20-01-2005, 20:35
theres a big patch in my local woods ill be watching the surrounding area from now on :shock:
I agree leon, rhododendron is an absolute pest, shading out native flowers and acidifying the ground more attention needs to be payed to controlling it in this country.
Getting back on topic, last year or the year before when the original scare was publicised, my next door neighbour went out into her garden and torched everone of her' rhododndrons, saying that no matter how much she liked them she liked our native trees better, and didn't want her rhodys playing host to such a disease :super:
One of the woods i visit has a vast area of rhody under oak trees so i might go have a look at them sometime. Cheers bringing this topic back up PW
Motorbike Man
23-01-2005, 11:32
When I spent a bit of time working for the Dorset Wildlife Trust on Brownsea Island, one of the biggest jobs was ripping out rhododendron that htreatens to take over if it's not controlled. I have to say that I hate the stuff (althought the wood does burn well). If you leave a bit od root behind, it send out shoots within days. I had heard that there were plans to remove a lot of the rhody in the New Forest because of this nasty. Anyone heard anything else about it?