A second case of serious tree disease “sudden oak death” (Phytophthora ramorum) has been discovered in Scotland.
The discovery is in the same country park where another serious disease – Phytophthora lateralis – was confirmed in Lawson’s cypress and yew trees late in 2010.
Sudden oak death has mainly affected Japanese larch trees so far in the UK – more than two million have had to be felled in south-west England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in an effort to prevent the pathogen from spreading further.
“These are very worrying developments, because both of these pathogens cause serious plant and tree diseases,” said Roddie Burgess, head of the Forestry Commission’s plant health service.
He said a significant number of trees would have to be felled at the country park at Balloch Castle on the shores of Loch Lomond.
Sudden oak death has affected large swatches of North American oak trees but so far has had little impact on the English oak.