Thanks for the warning. I was planning to go to the Tallahassee nursery tomorrow to buy some clematis. I will have to be sure that I am not buying anything from California. I cannot imagine losing our lovely and very old live oaks.
Laurie

This is alarming to me too. I had just bought and planted a Monrovia camellia and two viburnums. I contacted the nursery who called Monrovia and determined the specific varieties I had purchased were not infected. It seems there are only certain growing areas that have the fungus and different plants are grown by different growers for Monrovia. My nursery is reputable and I trust them but I am still alittle leary.
SC has also closed the borders to CA plants now.

Check the heads up I just posted in the Florida Gardening forum. The fungus has been positively identified in three Florida nurseries that received plants from Monrovia.

.....Alan.

I would be wary of your camellia and two viburnums.

"Sudden Oak Death is not harmful to humans or animals, but is a serious fungal disease that affects not only oaks but also other plants including rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and viburnums,"

This was taken from a press release from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture.

I emailed the state inspectors and asked how I can determine if I have the phytopthora and what could be done if I did. Got a fast response that they would look into it and let me know. So....., I am keeping my fingers crossed.
The American Camellia Society has just sent out a letter to their members warning them to stay away from all CA material.

This is from the Louisiana Dept of Agriculture and Forestry:

There are many Internet websites that have posted photos of SOD symptoms on various plant hosts. Your best bet is to type 'sudden oak death' into a search engine and you should be able to see symptoms. Below is a basic summary of symptoms for some of the hosts most likely to be purchased in Louisiana:

Azaleas: Look for shoot/twig and leaf blight. Affected shoots or twigs develop a brown to black discoloration that spreads along the twig and can spread into the leaves via leaf petioles. Symptoms include blackening of the petiole (leaf stalk), leaf base and leaf tip and may extend along the leaf mid-rib. Twig cankers can result in wilted shoots; in such cases leaves remain attached but may not develop any spots. Leaf infection can also occur without twig infection. Roots are unaffected.
Symptoms are similar to those caused by other Phytophthora spp. on azaleas (and rhododendrons), but the development of symptoms can be more rapid.

Viburnum: Infection commonly occurs at the stem base causing wilting then death. You may also see brown to black leaf infections. Flowers may also be affected.

Pieris and Vaccinium: Look for brown stem lesions that lead to aerial dieback and leaf symptoms as described on azalea / rhododendron.

Camellia, Kalmia, Syringa (lilac) and Leucothoe: Usually only leaf infections are seen. Leaf lesions are usually brown to black areas,typically occurring at the tip or edges of the leaves. On camellia, some shoots have also been found to be infected, leading to dieback.

Something just occured to me. Back in the spring of 2001 I planted several Viburnums, both 'Awabuki' and 'Chindo'. The following summer they developed brown spots on the leaves and appeared to be dying. I was told, here on GW that these Viburnums often do that until they are well established. So, I cut mine back and indeed they came out well again the next season although they still get a few spots once in a while. A nursery owner in FL told me last year her had to cut all his Awabuki's back because they had "some kind of spots on their leaves".
Now I am wondering??????

Wow! this is really creepy and I had not heard a word about it - thanks for the "heads up" on this mess - I would hate to lose any of our beautiful live oaks and all the other wonderful plants this infects! Thank you, thank you! Maggie

Thank you for posting! I was just about to pick up the phone and get my boss (who is on a business trip to Los Angeles) to pick me up some black bamboo there since it is so cheap.
Now I will not.
Thanks again!

my inkberry shamrocks (and all hte others on my block) have gotten black leaves and dead twigs...i wonder if this could be SOD? i live in MA btw.