The Mode of Infection of Lodgepole Pine by Crumenula sororia Karst. and the Susceptibility of Different Provenances to Attack

Experimental inoculations of C. sororia on un-wounded Lodgepolepine produced successful infections after 9 months in 25 percent of cases, compared with 40–60 per cent where woundswere inoculated. After 16 months, however, these differencesdisappeared. The virulence of different isolates of C. sororiadiffered. Current year's shoots were more resistant to infectionthan 1-year-old shoots. Resistance was generally not a functionof broad geographical origin, save in the southern coastal types.Some provenances were highly significantly more susceptiblethan other closely adjacent ones: Burns Lake and Salmon Armwere highly susceptible, whereas Fort St. James and Mount Idaprovenances were respectively resistant. These observationsagree closely with field survey data, thus validating the useof young plants to indicate resistance of older crops to infection.