chestnut blight

views updated

chestnut blight (chestnut canker) A disease of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) caused by the fungus Endothia parasitica. Invasion of the vascular cambium by the pathogen results in wilting and the death of the tree. The introduction of the fungus to America from Asia led to the wholesale destruction of the hitherto commercially important American chestnut.

More From encyclopedia.com