Torenia fournieri Lind. ex Fourn. (wishbone flower, bluewings) is a popular summer bedding plant in Louisiana. Clown Mixture cultivars are available in garden centers in March and April. Transplants of cultivar Clown Rose were purchased, transplanted to larger pots, and maintained in a greenhouse. A powdery mildew was observed on these plants in March and all plants (six) were severely diseased by May. Symptoms included leaf distortion and yellowing. Powdery mildew was not present on transplants and none was found in later checks of garden centers. An Oidium sp. was observed sporulating on both leaf surfaces of infected plants. Conidia were ellipsoid, produced in chains, lacked fibrosin bodies, and averaged 41 × 22 μm in dimensions. No sexual stage was observed. Healthy plants of Clown Mixture cultivars were obtained and inoculated by brushing conidia from infected plant leaves to leaves of healthy plants. Plants were maintained in a greenhouse where temperatures ranged from 16 to 26°C. Hyphal growth appeared on inoculated plants after 5 days and the reproductive structures formed later appeared the same as those on originally infected plants. Uninoculated plants remained healthy. No previous reports of powdery mildew diseases of T. fournieri in the United States were found. Other powdery mildew pathogens reported on T. fournieri are Sphaerotheca fuliginea (Schlechtend.:Fr.) Pollacci in Finland and Japan and an Erysiphe sp. in Japan (1).
Reference: (1) K. Amano. Host Range and Geographical Distribution of the Powdery Mildew Fungi. Japan Scientific Press, Tokyo, 1986.
