AN OOSPORE-FORMING STRAIN OF PERONOSPORA STATICES ON CULTIVATED LIMONIUM IN THE UK, THE NETHERLANDS AND ITALY

Peronospora statices is reported on cultivated Limonium sinuatum plant s for the first time in the UK, the Netherlands and Italy. This is the first record of a downy mildew on a host in the Plumbaginaceae in the se three countries. A description of this rare fungus and the disease it causes, including the first details of the unusual morphology of it s oogonial walls, is provided. In the UK outbreak, the disease was con trolled by the fungicide furalaxyl. The implications of the occurrence of an oospore-forming strain of this potentially highly destructive f ungus are discussed.