The killer has now traveled down to Indiana, after mutilating hundreds of thousands in California. The fungus-like organism that causes a tree disease causes ‘Sudden Oak Death’ by encircling oak trees, strangling them. According to state officials, they arrived in a shipment of shrubs from Oregon.
It was spotted in a Viburnum shrub at Sears Hardware in Portage two weeks ago. The disease is called — Phytophthora ramorum. It does not spread from oak to oak but to oaks from host plants such as rhododendrons and maple trees.
State entomologist Robert Waltz said,
It’s worrisome. It’s a very bad pathogen, no doubt about it.
Via: Associated Press