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Boxwood blight has now been confirmed in a production facility in Clinton County. This increases the number of Illinois counties with confirmations to three (samples from Cook and Lake counties were previously confirmed with the disease). To date, all confirmed cases of boxwood blight in Illinois have come from plants originally sourced from other states. The Plant Clinic Boxwood Blight Detection Fact Sheet has been updated to reflect this new confirmation. The Fact Sheet is available here.

 

The Clinton County sample displayed severe defoliation and leaf spots, along with black, linear stem cankers.

 

Severe lower defoliation on boxwood sample infected with boxwood blight

 

The Illinois Department of Agriculture is seeking to declare boxwood blight a nuisance in Illinois. This would give the Department regulatory authority over plants infected with the disease. For more information, please see the Department's press release.