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<DIV>MPWG:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The disease that was discovered to be killing Japanese stiltgrass,
Microstegium vimineum, in Calhoun County, West Virginia during 2008 and
2009 has spread to new sites. The first signs of disease this year was in
scattered locations starting about May 7. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In areas where the disease was active last fall there was limited
germination of stiltgrass this spring and many plants that have
developed in those areas now show disease signs. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV>Two years ago this road was completely dominated by stiltgrass that grew so
tall and thick that all the water bars on the road were obscured. This
area was hit by the disease last fall as the seed was starting to set. The
dominant greenery in this photo is black Cohosh and white aster. Nearly
all stiltgrass present at the site is diseased. Within 100 feet of this
photo there is healthy stiltgrass that is almost 18" tall. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The following three photos were taken in an abandoned field area that had
become a stiltgrass savannah. The site has scattered apple
trees and deer had helped to spread the stiltgrass across the hillside.
This savannah covers more than fifteen acres and showed no signs of disease in
2009.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV>The trail in the foreground has a heavy cover of sickly stiltgrass.
For several hundred feet of this trail nearly 100% of the stiltgrass plants are
covered with lesions.<BR></DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In some areas the thatch from last year is still easy to find because there
is very little new growth for 2010.</DIV>
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<DIV>There are areas with no living stiltgrass plants and the natives are taking
off.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV>It appears that the fungus killing stiltgrass can survive a forest
fire. In early April a forest fire </DIV>
<DIV>burned over 20 acres of Crummies Creek including areas where I had
photographed the disease last year. Some Japanese stiltgrass seed
survived the fire and germinated in early May but now nearly all plants are
showing disease signs.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At this time no one has determined the vectors for spread of the
disease but a paper on some of the specifics of the "Bipolaris"
disease has recently been published by Luke Flory of Indiana
University.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sincerely,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Russ Richardson, Certified Forester</DIV>
<DIV>Crummies Creek Tree Farm</DIV>
<DIV>PO Box 207</DIV>
<DIV>Arnoldsburg, WV 25234</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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