Ag & Natual Resources Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Whitley County
COLUMBIA CITY – This article is not meant to raise an alarm for a new, deadly tree disease. Rather, I wish to increase your awareness of a disease that has been around for a long time. According to Purdue experts, it is one of the most common and destructive diseases of woody ornamental plants in the Midwest.
John Bonkowski, plant disease diagnostician, and Tom Cresswell, director of the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory, authored the Purdue Extension publication “Verticillium Wilt of Woody Plants.”
The authors describe common and highly susceptible woody hosts of this disease, including redbud, smoketree, tree-of-heaven, maples, rose, lilac, boxwood and barberry. In addition to woody plants, Verticillium also infects potato, tomato, pepper, eggplant, raspberry and peppermint. More than 300 plant species have been reported to be susceptible to the disease…