Fire Blight - Crabapple Fire Blight Disease

Connie Reeves

Fire blight, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, affects over 130 plant species in the rose family. In Minnesota, fire blight is most often seen on apple, crabapple, pear, mountain ash, and cotoneaster.

References
Agrios, George N. 1978. Fire Blight of Pear and Apple, pp. 457-462 In: Plant Pathology, Second Edition. Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, FL. 703 pp.
Beer, S.V. 1990. Fire Blight, pp. 61-63 In: Compendium of Apple and Pear Diseases. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN. 100 pp.
Van Der Zwet, Tom and Keil, Harry L. 1979. Fire Blight, A Bacterial Disease of Rosaceous Plants. USDA Agriculture Handbook #510, Washington, D.C. 200 pp.

NOTE: Resistance information on apples was updated by Dave Bedford at the U of MN Horticultural Research Center, and Harold Pellett and Nancy Rose at the U of MN Landscape Arboretum. University researchers will be continually screening for fire blight susceptible varieties. It is possible that additional data may change current resistant-susceptible categories of some varieties. Readers may wish to check in the future for updated information.