Killer Fungus Threatens Connecticut Boxwood Shrubs

One of the most valuable and commonly planted landscape shrubs in Connecticut, the boxwood is being attacked by fungus that so far cannot be controlled and invariably kills infected plants.

Discovered in Connecticut in October 2011, infected plants already have been identified in landscapes, garden centers or nurseries in Fairfield, Hartford, Middlesex and New London counties. The only other states where the fungus has been identified in the U. S. are Virginia and North Carolina.

"No one knows how it got into the U. S. We certainly don't know how it got into Connecticut," said Louis A. Magnarelli, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, which identified the fungus after receiving boxwood plants showing unusual disease symptoms this fall.

There is no known cure for the fungus, called boxwood blight, which was first identified in Europe only in the 1990s. It is now widespread in Europe.