Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death
Ceratocystis Wilt of ʻŌhiʻa

A newly identified disease has killed large numbers of mature ʻōhiʻa trees (Metrosideros polymorpha) in forests and residential areas of the Puna and Hilo Districts of Hawaiʻi Island. Pathogenicity tests conducted by the USDA Agriculture Research Service have determined that the causal agent of the disease is the vascular wilt fungus, Ceratocystis.

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Koa wilt

Koa wilt is a serious, often fatal disease of the native Hawaiian koa, Acacia koa. Trees affected with the disease rapidly lose their canopies and may die within a few months. Young trees less than 15 years old seem to be affected more often than old trees, and the disease is more often seen on trees planted below 2,500 feet elevation than on trees growing in the forest at higher elevations. Both koa and koaia (Acacia koaia) are susceptible to koa wilt. 

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Myrtle rust

Myrtle rust, also called guava rust or ʻōhiʻa rust in Hawaiʻi, is a plant pathogen that has spread from its origin in Latin America to Hawaiʻi, the Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand in the past few years. The fungus has a broad host range, attacking most trees in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), including guava, Eucalyptus, Eugenia, Melaleuca (paperbark), and Metrosideros (ʻōhiʻa and pohutukawa), and Syzygium (mountain apple and rose apple in Hawaiʻi).

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