Chestnut Blight
The blight fungus, Cryphonectria
parasitica, was introduced from Asia and first
discovered in New York City in 1904.
By 1950, except for the shrubby root sprouts the species
continually produces (and which also quickly become infected), the
keystone species on some nine million acres of eastern
forests had disappeared. It is
estimated that this canker disease of the bark destroyed 4 billion American
chestnut trees across its native range.