Detecting and identifying Canker Stain of Plane

Ceratocystis platani is a lethal Quarantine parasite (Directive 2000/29/EC) reported in Europe since 1972 and likely present since the 40s with serious consequences for public and private gardens in both rural and urban environments. There are no obvious climatic factors limiting the potential establishment and spread of the pathogen in European Countries where hosts are present, mainly because spread of C. platani is highly human-assisted, but cultural practices and sanitary measures applied in the infected areas may reduce inoculum sources. This publication was prepared as a technical support for the workshop “Canker Stain of Plane, a Training Weekend in Italy”, organized as a novel extension to Treework Environmental Practice’s ‘Innovations in Arboriculture' seminar series in partnership with De Rebus Plantarum, brand of PAN spinoff of the University of Padova. The aim of this booklet is not to be a scientific reference, but a kind of “user manual” for consultants and managers, who are day-to-day involved in tree disease surveys and management.