Anthracnose of Safflower Caused by Colletotrichum acutatum

Anthracnose occurred severely on safflower plants grown in Euiseong and Jecheon areas of Korea in 1997 and 1998. The disease incidence was up to 100% in some fields, and symptoms developed on seedlings, leaves, stems, roots and hulls of the plants. Coletotrichum sp. was consistently present on the diseased plant parts, and all the isolates from the lesions were identified as Colletotrichum acutatum based on the morphological and cultural characteristics. Similar symptoms were produced on the host plants by artificial inoculation with isolates of the fungus. The fungus was reisolated from lesions on the plants inoculated. This is the first report that c. acutatum causes anthracnose of safflower.