Texas root rot
species of fungus
Texas root rot (also known as Phymatotrichopsis root rot, Phymatotrichum root rot, cotton root rot, or, in the older literature, Ozonium root rot) is a
disease that is fairly common in Mexico and the southwestern United States resulting in sudden wilt and death of affected plants, usually during the warmer months. It is caused by a soil-borne fungus named Phymatotrichopsis omnivora that attacks the roots of susceptible plants. It was first discovered in 1888 by Pammel and later named by Duggar in 1916.
A monograph of this disease, which includes a historical review, was written by R.B. Streets and H.E. Bloss in 1973.
Host and symptoms
Phymatotrichopsis omnivora is a necrotrophic fungal pathogen that has a very broad host range, attacking almost 2000 dicotyledonous species. It inhabits alkaline, calcareous soils in southwestern United States. It particularly targets dicots as most monocots are immune. Economically important plant hosts affected by the pathogen include: peanuts, cotton, alfalfa, apple, pecans, and ornamental trees.
First symptom of disease is often chlorosis of the leaves then followed by browning and wilting. Two weeks after the first symptoms appear, the plant dies.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Texas root rot” is species of fungus. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Texas, root and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7708288. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1888, 1916, 1973 and 2000.
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This entry incorporates text from “Texas root rot” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.