Sudden Oak Death is caused by a funguslike pathogen recently identified by UC scientists and named Phytophthora ramorum. Since its appearance in 1995, Sudden Oak Death SOD has killed hundreds of thousands of coast live oak, black oak, tanoak and Shreve oak in northern California. It can also infect leaves and branches of rhododendron, buckeye, madrone, manzanita, bigleaf maple, bay laurel, and evergreen huckleberry. Two species of East Coast oaks, northern red oak and southern red oak, are also susceptible to P. ramorum, according to UC Davis plant pathologist Dave Rizzo.

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