Findings of P. kernoviae infecting plants of Vaccinium myrtillus (bilberry) in oak woodland and also open heathland in Cornwall raises a number of questions. Bilberry is a native plant to Britain. It grows in both lowland and upland heathlands, but can also an understorey component of some woodlands, as well as colonising some grasslands and peat bogs.
The first woodland site with P. kernoviae infected bilberry also had rhododendron bushes which proved to be infected by the same pathogen. These may well have acted as the source of infection for the bilberry.
Laboratory tests have shown that the foliage of bilberry can be extremely susceptible to P. kernoviae. On naturally infected plants the symptoms take the form of stem blackening and necrotic leaves although the affected leaves are quickly shed.
