Compendium of Plant Disease and Decay in Canada 1960-1980

Suzanne Visser is a professional associate at the Kananaskis Centre for
Environmental Research, University of Calgary.

This book catalogues the fungi associated with both cultivated and wild vascular plants across Canada. It concentrates on those fungi and hosts reported in the literature from 1960 to 1980, and, in so doing, updates An Annotated Index of Plant Diseases in Canada (1967) by I.L. Conners. This Compendium can be used in conjunction with Conners’s book since it uses a similar format and cross-references Conners’s book where possible.

The main body of the Compendium is comprised of three sections. Difficulties with beating each section could have been resolved by using colour codes or distinctive page-top headings. The first section is a host index which is arranged alphabetically according to plant genus. Labels at the top of each page allow the reader to locate a particular host relatively quickly, although the headings for each plant genus would have benefitted from the use of a bolder type. The lists of host species which follow each plant genus and precede the fungal lists are also not immediately obvious and could have been delimited more clearly. The fungi reported from each host genus are arranged alphabetically. In addition to providing information on the diseases (both English and French names are given) caused by a particular fungus and the province or territory from which a particular species has been reported, details are presented on the type of plant residue with which a fungus is associated, the type of rot caused by the wood decay fungi, possible mycorrhizal associations, and records of crop losses. Because the author has adopted a broad concept of what constitutes a disease-causing fungus and has included fungi whose economic significance has not been defined, the fungal lists are very comprehensive.

The second section is an extensive bibliography containing over 2,000 references previously cited in the host index. The bibliography is followed by indexes of scientific names of the fungi and includes authorities, synonyms, and confirmed anamorphic / holomorphic connections. The indexes are arranged alphabetically on both a generic and species basis and contain over 3,900 species. Much care has been taken to ensure the most up-to-date taxonomic nomenclature. Again, locating particular references or fungal species could have been improved significantly by incorporating well-defined headings at the top of each page or by using bold-faced type.

Despite minor formatting problems, this book is an indispensable reference source on the current status of plant disease and wood decay fungi in Canada and contains the most comprehensive list of fungal flora available in Canada today. It has a soft cover, which may not appeal to everyone, but at $23.40 this book is a bargain. It is highly recommended to anyone specializing in plant pathology or mycology.