Abstract

Blister bark disease, associated with the fungus Trichosporum vesiculosum Butler (name illegitimate), has been considered to be one of the more serious and potentially threatening diseases for Casuarina equisetifolia subsp. Equisitifolia plantation programms in tropical regions. Although there have been numerous reports on its occurence in India since 1905, and a small number from Mauritius and Indonesia it is only in the past two years that blister bark disease symptoms have been associated with serious mortality in plantations in Vietnam and Thailand. There are no reports of the disease in natural stands of C. equisetifolia from Australia or elsewhere. This paper reviews the knowledge of the disease including its extent, recognition, causes, possible management measures, and identifies future research needs. During late 1995 several plantations with blister bark incidence in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, India were visited and some of the observations are reported here. We