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IPM Scouting in Woody Landscape Plants

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Botryosphaeria canker
IPM scouting in woody landscape plants > botryosphaeria canker
Cause: Botryosphaeria dothidea (fungus)

Hosts: Many woody plants, including redbud, rhododendron, crabapples and dogwoods.

Symptoms: This fungus causes cankers and branch dieback. Cankers, which may take a year or more to develop, are visible as sunken, brown-to- black areas on infected branches (top right photo). As branches are girdled by the canker’s spread, leaves wilt and die but remain attached to the branch (bottom right photo). Small, pimple-like fruiting bodies (pycnidia) may be visible in the area of the canker.
Cankers Wilted and dead leaves
Cankers, which may take a year or more to develop, are visible as sunken, brown-to- black areas on infected branches. As branches are girdled by the canker’s spread, leaves wilt and die but remain attached to the branch.
How it’s spread: Drought-stressed plants are much more susceptible to this disease. This fungus frequently enters and infects through wounds.

Management: Keep plants well watered during droughts. Affected branches may be pruned out. Many fungal cankers look similar; confirm your field diagnosis by sending a sample to MSU Diagnostic Services.

Additional information

This information was developed from A Pocket IPM Scouting Guide for Woody Landscape Plants by Diane Brown-Rytlewski. Purchase this in a pocket-sized guide for reference in the orchard from MSU Extension (publication E-2839).
The MSU IPM Program maintains this site as an access point to pest management information at MSU. The IPM Program is administered within the Department of Entomology, fueled by research from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, delivered to citizens through MSU Extension, and proud to be a part of Project GREEEN.
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Updated 10/11/07