INDIANAPOLIS — The plants in your front yard could be filled with fungus.
Boxwood plants infected with a fungal disease called boxwood blight were shipped to Indiana in May, says the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Boxwood blight infests members of the Buxaceae family such as Buxus (boxwood), Pachysandra (Japanese spurge) and Sarcococca (sweetbox), says Indiana DNR.
The sick plants were shipped to 23 stores across the state and may have indavertently been sold to the public.
A DNR inspector found some of the infected plants at a chain home-and-garden store in early October. Once the presence of the disease was confirmed, the plants were removed from store shelves for disposal.
Boxwood blight initially appears as brown or black spots on leaves. The leaves will turn brown and fall off, allowing the infection to spread from the dropped leaves to nearby plants. Fungal spores are also by rain, wind, birds, and animals.
Boxwood blight is usually fatal for young plants and difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate in more mature ones.
If you think one of your plants is showing signs of boxwood blight, call Indiana DNR at (866) NO EXOTIC (866-663-9684).
More information about boxwood blight is available at the Indiana DNR website.
(Photo by Philippe ROY/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
