Dieback was noted on 3 Chamaecyparis lawsoniana - Lawson^^s cypress and 2 Chamaecyparis nootkatensis - Nootka cypress.
The affected trees also showed similar symptoms to previous findings of Phytopthora lateralis on Lawsona^^s cypress some having fresh basal lesions yielding a positive test for Phytophthora with a Lateral Flow Device (LFD).
One tree had branch dieback. Positive samples were then tested further using Phytophthora-specific PCR primers which were tested on DNA extracted from bark. Resulting sequences were analysed to determine Phytophthora species. One isolate from C. nootkatensis gave 100% and 99% sequence matches to Phytophthora. austrocedrae.
Culturing from the material yielded an isolate which was confirmed as P. austrocedrae based on culture morphology and DNA analysis.
On the same site there were also 2 positive identifications for Phytophthora cambivora made on Chamaecyparis lawsoniana and 1 positive identification for Phytophthora lateralis made on C. lawsoniana.