Two new species of fungi that kill `ohi`a trees get Hawaiian names
(WorldNews Environment)

Symptoms of rapid `ohi`a death include rapid browning of affected tree crowns. Photo from . Researchers in Hawai`i, working with national and international specialists, have published a paper providing new insight into the origin and development of the tree disease called rapid `ohi`adeath. Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service () and the University of Hawai`iworked with colleagues at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and Iowa State to describe two new species of plant pathogenic fungi known to cause rapid `ohi`adeath. Initially noticed by landowners in Puna in 2010, rapid `ohi`adeath spread quickly across tens of...