Spinach Anchracnose

Spinach anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum dematium, was found for the first time in Australia on several cultivars of baby spinach (Spinacia oleracea) on a farm at Cora Lynn, near Melbourne, Victoria in August 2004. The fungus was isolated and pathogenicity confirmed. Host range studies showed that all six spinach cultivars tested were highly susceptible, four beet cultivars were slightly susceptible, while silverbeet, tomato, spring onion, Chenopodium amaranticolor and Ch. quinoa were not infected at all. Subsequent surveys found the disease in two additional baby spinach crops in Victoria (at Boisdale in East Gippsland and Pearcedale, on the Mornington Peninsula), and in a baby spinach crop (at Thulimbah) in south-eastern Queensland and a bunching spinach crop (at Leppington) in the Sydney basin. This is the first record of this pathogen on spinach in Australia.