Flutterby™! : Sudden oak death

For a few years out here in California we've been watching trees die from "sudden oak death". For a long time nobody had a clue about what it was, some suspected beatles, but now they're pretty sure it comes from a fungus. And while the initial guesses were that animal movement transmitted it, it seems to go from bay tree to bay tree without damaging them. Bill forwarded a New York Times in depth look at the current state of sudden oak death. Worth a read if you're wondering about all those trees dying in place out in the hills of Marin.