First U.S. Report of Pseudocercospora paederiae Leaf Spot on the Invasive Exotic Paederia foetida

Paederia foetida L., commonly referred to as skunk vine, is a native of eastern and southern Asia and was introduced into the United States prior to 1897. By 1916 it was already a troublesome weed in central Florida. It is a fast growing perennial twining vine (up to 7 m) with a woody rootstock adapted to a wide range of light, soil, water, and salt conditions (4). Naturalized in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas, it occurs most often in disturbed areas. In Florida, where it is listed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as a noxious weed, it invades various native plant communities including sandhills, flood plains, and upland mixed forests, where it creates dense canopies leading to injury or death of native vegetation and structural alteration of the native plant community (2,4). Current work underway to find biological control agents for invasive weeds led to the discovery in central Florida of a skunk vine plant with irregular to ...