Cankers and Diebacks

Abstract

A canker is a localized lesion or diseased area often resulting in an open wound and usually on a woody structure. Starting as a definite necrotic spot, it may girdle cane, stem, or tree trunk, killing the water-conducting tissues so that the most prominent symptom becomes a dieback. When twigs and branches die back from the tip, the condition may be a blight, with the pathogen directly invading the dying area, or it may be a secondary effect from a canker some distance below.