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LEAF SPOTS, ONE OF THE MOST COMMON HAWTHORN (CRATAEGUS MONOGYNA) DISEASES ON THE SOUTH-WESTERN PART OF ROMANIA

A. Borcean

Abstract

The hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is very widespread in Romania. In the southwestern part of the Banat, on the hilly and mountainous area, the hawthorn has very representative population. It is very often found in those areas in small groups of 4-15 shrubs and is most common found in the selvage of the forests and on the areas where are old forest roads, along the gardens of the meadows of the rivers from mountain areas. Also, hawthorn plants are often used by local population from these areas to make green fences, taking advantage of the plant's size and the fairly high density of the branches with thorns which keep animals such wild pigs, sheep and cows away from the gardens and fields. Since ancient times hawthorn is also considered a very useful medicinal plant, used to improve the health of patients with heart diseases. This diseases therapy requires long-lasting cures, even for 6 months or more, with tea made from flowers, leaves and fruits. The flower decoction could be also used as a compress to the skin to relieve from some irritation forms. Bark decoction also helps to reduce fever. From the point of view of plant pathology, hawthorn plants (Crataegus monogyna) have a series of pathogens that degrade flowers, leaves and wood (especially young shoots). These pathogens encountered on the area are bacterial fire (Erwinia amylovora), leaf staining by the fungus Diplocarpon mespili and the leaf and flower burning and fruit rotting (Monilinia johnsonii). The most encounterd pathogen during summer on the last years was Diplocarpon mespili whose asexual stage is Entomosporium mespili which produce conidia in fruiting bodies called acervuli. The main simptom of this disease consist in small necrotic lesions where it could be found the acervuli. Problem with these lesions is that they could be so dense that the leaf will dry out and as result is a poor resistance for the freezing days of winter. One more important problem of this pathogen is that it could affect quince orchards from the region because it is a common pathogen for these two species. This are the reasons of our research and the present paper we present an analysis of the dynamics of the pathogen in the last 4 years, in the light of the data recorded in the hawthorn populations located in the southwest part of Romania

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