laurel wilt disease

Sweating the small stuff: NC Plant Conservation Program to protect small endangered plant

by

Pondberry, a small, wetland shrub with yellow flowers that pop up each spring, may soon be gone forever in the state. The shrub, native to the Southeast and historically found in wetland habitats, was essentially wiped out last century as an unintended consequence of wetland draining. Now, the remaining populations are endangered by a non-native … Read more

And it spreads: Laurel wilt found in Onslow County for first time

by

Laurel wilt is a devastating non-native disease of redbay trees and other plants in the laurel family in the southeastern U.S. Native to Southeast Asia, it was first detected near Savannah, Ga., in the early 2000s and has since spread to eight additional Southern states. It has already killed an estimated half a billion trees … Read more