Armillaria Root Rot: Biology and Control of Honey Fungus

Illustrated hardcover  240 pages  ISBN 1898298645      £70.00

This book aims to answer the questions most often raised about Armillaria. Members of this genus include some of the most virulent pathogens, which kill and decay trees, shrubs and vines. One of the most deadly is A. mellea, the honey fungus, which causes serious root and butt rots in woody plants. It can also kill plants with starchy roots that include some valuable species of herbaceous plants, as well as some weeds. A. mellea is reputed to be by far the most serious plant disease in British gardens. This, and related species, are common in forests, orchards and gardens throughout the world. Members of this genus attract worldwide interest due to their highly evolved biological adaptations, potential pharmaceutical properties and, not least, culinary qualities.

Generations of mycologists assumed that only one major species (A. mellea) existed, but this has now been divided into at least six species in Britain alone. There are now known to be many other species worldwide including temperate Africa, North and South America, Australasia and other parts of the tropics. In temperate Eurasia three species are known to be serious pathogens. Diagnosis and identification is difficult as not only do the fruiting bodies differ subtly in morphology between species, but they also often differ between genets of the same species. However rapid molecular methods have now been developed that enable identification in a matter of hours. This is important since the physical methods recommended to control the fungus, once established, are extremely laborious (and often impractical) but any control technique will only work best at the earliest stages of infection, making accurate diagnosis vital, as indicated by the information provided here in eleven chapters, divided into five sections as follows:

Section I BIOLOGY

contains chapters on Biology and life cycle (R T V Fox, University of Reading UK), Ecology and epidemiology of Armillaria (A J Termorshuizen, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands), Quantitative aspects of the epidemiology of Armillaria in the field (A. Lamour, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands and M. J. Jeger, Wye College, UK

Section 2 DIVERSITY

contains chapters on Taxonomy, nomenclature and description of Armillaria (D N Pegler, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK), Molecular methods used for the detection and identification of Armillaria (A Perez-Sierra, Royal Horticultural Society, UK and D. Whitehead and M. Whitehead, University of Wolverhampton, UK).

Section 3 PATHOLOGY

contains a chapter on Pathogenicity (R T V Fox, University of Reading, UK)

Section 4 CONTROL

contains chapters on The extent of losses and aims for managing Armillaria (R T V Fox, University of Reading, UK), Cultural methods to manage Armillaria (R T V Fox, University of Reading, UK), Chemical control of Armillaria (J S West, Institute of Arable Research, UK), Biological and integrated control of Armillaria root rot (F Raziq, Agricultural Research Station, Pakistan)

Section 5 FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

contains a chapter by R T V Fox, with the title "Answering all the questions about Armillaria".

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Lavoisier : agriculture & forestry : biological control : crop protection : disease control : gardening : horticulture : mycology : plant pathology