Neopeckia coulteri

                                          Photo courtesy of forestryimages.org

Description:  Neopeckia coulteri, a “brown felt blight”, grows on snow-covered branches and foliage of coniferous trees located at high altitudes.  This fungus develops under prolonged snow cover during periods of high relative humidity and mild temperature(Schwandt, USFS).  The damage this pathogen causes is not severe and only negatively impacts its host if the brown mycelial mat successfully coats the delicate seedlings, killing them.

Identification:  The growth of this fungus ceases after the snow melts away, and brown mycelium covering and matting  the needles, twigs, and seedlings together is revealed.

Hosts:    Found only on pines.  May result in branch dieback or death of seedlings and the lower branches of larger trees.

Distribution:  High elevations of Pacific Northwest.  Not specific to our area, however.

General Information:  Neopeckia coulteri infects the foliage of it’s host by penetrating through the cuticle of the needles with its hyphae and producing feeding structures called haustoria, which absorb nutrients from plant tissue.

Sources:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5187259.pdf

http://forestry-dev.org/diseases/ctd/Group/Needle/needle3_e.html