Thursday, March 11, 2004 (SF Chronicle) Nursery reports oak
disease Infested plants have been sold out of state --
scientists shocked Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Ornamental plants in the largest nursery in California -- a
place that distributes flora around the country -- have been
infested with spores from the tree-killing disease known as
sudden oak death, it was revealed The discovery of Phytophthora
ramorum in camellias at Monrovia Growers in Azusa (Los Angeles
County) means that the highly contagious disease has been
transported to other states and may have been introduced into
highly susceptible oak forests in places like the southeastern
United States. The news hit like an earthquake as forest
pathologists from around the world gathered Wednesday at Sonoma
State University for a California Oak Mortality Task Force
meeting. Steve Oak, a forest pathologist for the North Carolina
office of the U.S. Forest Service, said a great many of
Monrovia's plants are shipped to the southeast, including pla