Anthracnose of May Lily Caused by Colletotrichum liliacearum

Anthracnose symptoms severely occurred up to 100% on leaves of May lily grown in four locations in Korea during a disease survey in 2001. The symptoms appeared as circular to irregular spots with brown to dark brown discoloration on leaves of the plant, and severely infected leaves blighted. A total of 35 isolates of Colletotrichum sp. was obtained from the spotted lesions and identified as Colletotrichum liliacearum based on the morphological and cultural characteristics. Leaf spots similar to the original anthracnose symptoms were induced on the host leaves by artificial inoculation with the isolates of the fungus. This is the first report that C. liliacearum causes anthracnose of May lily.