Alternaria alternata(Fries) Keissler patogena su lavanda (Lavandula spicaL. eL. stoechasL.)

Alternaria alternata(Fries) Keissler has been found pathogen on lavender (Lavandula spicaL. andL. stoechasL.) in Sardinia (Italy). Symptoms of the disease and characters of the fungus, both in nature and in culture, are described. Laboratory trials showed that temperature effect on conidial germination and fungal growth was the same , with anoptimumof 25-30° C. Artificial inoculation tests on variousLabiataespecies revealed a different pathogenicity degree of the fungus: high on lavender and sage, moderate on basil and rosemary, low or absent on mint and origan. Encouraging results against this disease have been obtained with maneb, captafol and overall chlorthalonil and ipradione. This is the first report ofA. alternataon lavender.