Science and Research
Box Blight resistance backed by research
When Box Blight was first detected in the United States in 2011, it sent up a warning flag for preparation and adaptation. Industry associations, universities, government agencies, and nursery individuals hustled to organize a collaborative effort to study and mitigate the effects of the disease. In 2014, the first U.S. Box Blight research effort began at North Carolina State University.
Funding, support, and specimens came from all over the industry, and Buxus microphylla 'Highlander' and Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' were included in the boxwood sample program. The results were published by the USDA in 2020, giving the industry a sterling and unbiased ranking of cultivar resistance.
The study found that Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' is exceptional in Box Blight resistance, ranking #2 out of 131 varieties tested as published in the study, Kramer, M.H., Guo, H., Pooler, M.R. 2020. Ranking resistance of Buxus cultivars to boxwood blight – an integrated analysis. Journal of Environmental Horticulture. 38(2):50-55.
See the study here:
Another project from the USDA was published in 2021, Becker, L.E., Adhikari, U., May, T., Shishkoff, N., Crouch, J., Cubeta, M.A. 2021. Evaluation of boxwood cultivars for resistance to boxwood blight, 2020. Plant Disease Management Reports. 15:OT008. Available: https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/volume15/abstracts/ot008.asp.
This research study states that the information provided by the project "will be used by nursery and landscape industry professionals, gardeners, and extension personnel to make informed recommendations and decisions about which boxwood cultivars to grow and use in the landscape to minimize the risk of boxwood blight." Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' is reported here among the top least susceptible cultivars, with a recorded defoliation rate of "0.0 c."
See the study and the report
Another supporting article appears in the American Society for Horticultural Science online in June 2017, LaMondia, J. A., & Shishkoff, N. (2017). Susceptibility of Boxwood Accessions from the National Boxwood Collection to Boxwood Blight and Potential for Differences between Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae. HortScience horts, 52(6), 873-879. Retrieved Oct 28, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI11756-17.
It describes Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' as showing "the least" infection rate for both Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae.
See the report
Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' has also proven itself in known Box Blight infected sites
EXCEPTIONAL DATA EQUALS EXCEPTIONAL SOLUTIONS
2020 USDA Agricultural Research Service Boxwood Cultivar Rankings -
reports Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' as #2 overall
Kramer, M.H., Guo, H., Pooler, M.R. 2020. Ranking resistance of Buxus cultivars to boxwood blight – an integrated analysis. Journal of Environmental Horticulture. 38(2):50-55.
Study available here:
https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=368938
Report available here:
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/3122/KramerEtAl2020.pdf
American Society for Horticultural Science -
reports Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' "the least" infected by Calonectria psuedonaviculata
and C. henricotiae
LaMondia, J. A., & Shishkoff, N. (2017). Susceptibility of Boxwood Accessions from the National Boxwood Collection to Boxwood Blight and Potential for Differences between Calonectria pseudonaviculata and C. henricotiae. HortScience horts, 52(6), 873-879. Retrieved Oct 28, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI11756-17
https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/52/6/article-p873.xml
USDA Agricultural Research Service -
reports Buxus microphylla 'Little Missy' as "0.0 c" for leaf defoliation
Becker, L.E., Adhikari, U., May, T., Shishkoff, N., Crouch, J., Cubeta, M.A. 2021. Evaluation of boxwood cultivars for resistance to boxwood blight, 2020. Plant Disease Management Reports. 15:OT008. Available: https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/volume15/abstracts/ot008.asp
Study available here:
https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=380600
Report available here:
https://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/trial/pdmr/reports/2021/OT008.pdf
Buxus microphylla 'Little Mister' leaf assays -
performed by an independent lab in June 2022 report Buxus microphylla 'Little Mister'
susceptibility numbers similar to 'Little Missy' (Buxus Little Mister coded as Buxus CP 21 WO 3802)
