Leptographium Root Infections of Pines in Florida1

Pines (Pinus spp.) in Florida are subject to infection by a variety of root-infecting and root disease fungi (Barnard et al 1985; Barnard et al 1991). Among the least known and perhaps most poorly understood of these root-inhabiting fungi are members of the ascomycete genus Ophiostoma, with anamorphs belonging to the more commonly observed formgenus Leptographium. This highly complex and internationally distributed group of fungi includes organisms with suspect, potential, variable, and well-documented pathogenicity (Alexander et al 1988; Harrington 1988, 1993; Wingfield et al 1988). Most, if not all, of these fungi are associated with, and often distributed by, one or more of a variety of bark-feeding, bark-boring, or wood-boring insects (Alexander et al 1988; Harrington 1988, 1993; Malloch and Blackwell 1993; Wingfield et al 1988).