Brittas Bay News - New Threat to Irish Oaks

Fungal disease that killed oak forests in US found here, garden centres told

The Department of Agriculture has written to the State's garden centres and nurseries to warn them that a variant of a fungal disease which has wiped out oak forests in the US has been discovered in the the Republic. Tim O'Brien reports.

The fungus Phytophthora ramorum, known as "sudden oak death" because of its effect on forests in America, spreads rapidly, causing even mature oak, rhododendron and viburnum shrubs and trees to wither and die. There is no known antidote.

The European Commission has declared that imported plants that may be suspected of carrying the disease must have "plant passports" certifying that they are free of the fungus.

However, a European version of Phytophthora ramorum, which has been killing rhododendrons and viburnums in nurseries in Germany, the Netherlands and Britain for more than a year, has recently been discovered in the "wild" in the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall.

It has also been discovered on plants imported to Ireland from Dutch nurseries, according to the Department of Agriculture here.

The Department yesterday emphasised there were two strains of Phytophthora, pointing out that the European version had not yet damaged oak trees, although it had killed rhododendron, viburnum and similar shrubs.

The Department's head of plant trade, Mr Peter Jones, has written to garden centres and nurseries warning them of the danger posed by both strains of the fungus. Plant suppliers have been reminded that imports that may be suspected of carrying the fungus must have a plant passport and that officials would make unannounced inspections.

Mr Paul Maher of the National Botanic Gardens, at Glasnevin, Dublin, said the importation and movement of susceptible plants had been avoided for some time.

The British Department of Agriculture is testing the Phytophthora fungus found at Heligan to determine its effects on other plant species such as beech, chestnut, Douglas fir and Sitka spruce. Results would be available soon, according to a spokeswoman.

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