Answer: Bring in a sample of the spore horns (or telial horns) of the Cedar Apple Rust pathogen. This sample was brought in today from a Henderson County homeowner. The fungus that causes the disease, Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae, is unusual because it must spend a phase of its life cycle as a parasite on Juniperus species, such as red cedar or ornamental junipers and a part of its life cycle on apple or crabapple trees.
Cedar-apple rust can be severe on apple, therefore Henderson County apple growers are more aware of this disease than most homeowners. Infections of apple fruit result in lower fruit quality and early fruit drop. Leaf spots may cause early defoliation, especially during dry summers. If trees are defoliated several years in a row, they become weakened and stressed. Fruit bud formation may be reduced after one year. The disease is not as harmful to juniper, causing galls but not severely affecting plant vigor.
Click on the link for more information on Cedar Apple Rust.
1 comment:
oh wow ! i had this topic in my to-do-list of posts, for the future. we have some red cedar (juniper ?) with it hanging from branches at my work. there is a crabapple sort of far off, and then some other crabapples even more distant.
i read in an old ortho disease / diagnosis book that the one tree would wipe out the other after the year of the first hit of orange goop. but the evergreens are still kicking, with the rust again. i do need to research it a bit more.
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