264
andrias, 19
(2012)
tani (H
owe
) U. B
raun
& S. T
akam
. (= Microsphaera
platani H
owe
) with North American origin. The
species was recorded for the first time in Europe
by C
iferri
& C
amera
(1962) on Platanus orientalis
in Italy. However, the authors did not provide any
record data. Later G
ullino
& R
apetti
(1978) found
the species in Liguria in Italy and documented
its spread toward the French Mediterranean
coast. In the following years the species spread
throughout the warm regions of the Mediterrane-
an countries, southern Switzerland, the mild at-
lantic France, and southern UK but not to Central
or Eastern Europe with increasingly continental
climates (A
nselmi
et al. 1994)
1
. Erysiphe platani
was reported on the host plants Platanus occi-
dentalis L., P. orientalis L., and the hybrid P. aceri-
folia (A
iton
) W
illd
. forming the anamorph only. In
the beginning of the 1990s the species appeared
in south and southwestern Switzerland near lake
Geneva (B
olay
2005) indicating that the species
is spreading northward and may be expected in
Germany as well. Although there are several “first
record” publications from some countries with
morphological descriptions in Europe, little is
known about the details of the spreading mode,
e.g. speed of expansion and if progressing over
long or short distances. This lack of information
does not concern only Erysiphe platani, but al-
most all other powdery mildew species intro-
duced to Europe. In the following we present the
results of a monitoring of the epidemic spread
of E. platani in Germany. In addition to this, mo-
lecular phylogenetic analyses were carried out
1
In their distribution map A
nselmi
et al. (1994: 165, Fig. 3)
report of isolated records of Erysiphe platani in Southern
Sweden. Since the fungus was not observed in neighboring
countries we wanted to get this confirmed and asked the
authors directly, but did not get any response. The Swedish
Erysiphales expert L
ena
J
onsell
could not confirm the occur-
rence of E. platani in Sweden.
Figure 1. The anamorph of the Plane Powdery Mildew Erysiphe platani on deformed leaves of Platanus acerifolia in
Karlsruhe, Main Railway Station, August 27, 2009. – Photograph: M. S
choller
.
