CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The plant pathogen behind a disease that's devastated forests on the West Coast has been found in Illinois.
The causal agent for Sudden Oak Disease, Phytophthora ramorum, was found on lilacs, rhododendrons, and other ornamental plants sold at Walmarts in Cook, Will, and other counties across the state - plus a Hy Vee grocery store. According to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the issue first emerged with rhododendrons at an Indiana Walmart in late May.
Tricia Bethke, forest pest outreach coordinator at the Morton Arboretum, said people who bought the plants noticed black discoloration on the plant stems, wilting leaves and other signs of blight.
"People purchased them, planted them in their landscape and then started to noticed the plants, themselves, were failing," she said. "So those black leasions, twig cankers, dieback..."
She said spores carrying the causal agent, Phytophthora ramorum, can be transmitted through the air and soil.
If you think you have an infected plant, send a picture to the state Agriculture Department or the Morton Arboretum, but don't throw it in the trash.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture said officials traced the pathogen to plans from nurseries in Washington and Canada sold through an Oklahoma store. Officials received shipping records and found that 18 states overall received the plants. The stores have issued recalls of the infected plants.
Experts say sudden oak death poses no threats to humans, animals or food sources.