White pine Blister Rust

White pine Blister Rust

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Gooseberries & White Pine
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/t/29106085976adfb0?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 2 2008 4:04 pm
From: James Parton

ENTS,

I knew that gooseberry plants can serve as an alternate host to white
pine blister rust but I had no idea that the plants are restricted in
NC. Dad had a couple of gooseberry plants back in the 80s when we
lived on Starnes Cove on the west side of Asheville.

White Pine Blister Rust

Currant and gooseberry plants (the genus Ribes) cannot be legally
imported into, or grown in, North Carolina because they serve as
alternate hosts to the plant disease know as white pine blister rust.
This is an old regulation established when young white pine
plantations were threatened by this disease because of infected, wild
currants growing in close proximity to them. There still is an active
eradication program in the western area of North Carolina to eliminate
wild currant hosts within a certain distance of white pine
plantations. It is provided as a service by the N.C. Forest Service.

Popular magazines and plant catalogs claim that the cultivated
varieties of currants and gooseberries are resistant to the disease
and do not pose a threat to white pine. These claims have yet to be
backed by scientific evidence. Researchers in other states are
currently testing various varieties for resistance. Their findings
will impact what North Carolina does in regard to amending this
regulation. Another option is to designate only certain areas of the
state as regulated areas and limit movement of currants and
gooseberries into these areas only. Currently, the entire state is
regulated. ( 2007 )

James Parton

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Wed, Dec 3 2008 1:21 pm
From: James Parton

Hopefully someone will come out with a tested blister rust resistant
variety.

JP

Home