Severe Outbreak of Leaf Spot and Blight Caused by Botrytis cinerea on Majesty Palm in Southern Italy

Plant Disease
G Polizzi

Abstract

Sicily is the most important region of Italy for ornamental palm cultivation. Majesty palm (Ravenea rivularis Jum. & H. Perrier) is one of the most stately palms for cultivation in the tropics and subtropics, and has been recently cultivated in containers for indoor and outdoor use in eastern Sicily. R. rivularis, which grows on river banks, is native to Madagascar, and appears to behave as a rheophyte in the seedling stage. This palm is not frost tolerant and will grow in full sun but tends to grow best in partly shaded areas or under greenhouses conditions. Between December and March in 1999, 2000, and 2001, a severe leaf spot and blight was observed on young (6-month- to 3-year-old) plants of majesty palm growing in plastic-covered houses and in open fields in nurseries in Sicily. Affected plants had brown necrotic spots and gray mold on the necrotic leaf tissues. No symptoms were detected in mature (4- to 5-year-old) plants grown in the same nurseries. To isolate the casual agent of the disease, 160 small pieces of tissue cut from leaf spots collected in four nurseries were surface sterilized (20 s in HgCl2 at 1 g/liter), washed with sterile water, and plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). In addition, conidia and conidioph...Continue Reading

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