Balsam fir tip blight

• French disease name: Brûlure des pousses à Delphinella balsameae
• Pathogen name: Delphinella balsameae (Waterm.) E. Müller
• Kingdom: Fungi
• Phylum: Ascomycota
• Class: Dothideomycetes
• Order: Dothideales
• Family: Dothioraceae
• Partial list of synonyms:
  • Rehmiellopsis balsameae A.M. Waterman

Distribution

Canada

Damage, symptoms and biology

Fruiting bodies develop on the needles and young shoots after they have turned from green to brown. The fruiting bodies release their spores into the air the following spring, infecting the new foliage, and the cycle starts over.

Other information

Young fir shoots wilt and shrivel, and are killed soon after they appear. The needles drop prematurely, leaving bare shoots.

Canadian Forest Service Publications

Balsam fir tip blight

Information on host(s)

Main host(s)

Balsam fir, subalpine fir

Photos

Symptoms of Delphinella blight on subalpine fir

FIDS