| Summary: | <i>Camellia japonica</i> is a native tree species with high economic value that is widely cultivated in southern China. In recent years, canker disease has been observed in camellia plantations in Zhejiang Province, China, with the disease incidence rate in some plantations exceeding 20%. Canker disease severely affects the trunks and branches of <i>C. japonica</i> in China, but the causal agent has not yet been identified. In this study, the pathogen was isolated from infected <i>C. japonica</i> tissues through a conventional tissue isolation approach. Species identification was conducted using morphological methods combined with multilocus phylogenetic analysis. Pathogenicity was tested based on Koch’s postulates. The results showed that the pathogen could be isolated from the diseased bark of <i>C. japonica</i> ‘Hongluzhen’. The pathogen was identified as <i>Nectria pseudotrichia</i> based on morphological, cultural, and molecular traits. The inoculation of the pathogen into <i>C. japonica</i> ‘Hongluzhen’ caused necrotic lesions on healthy seedlings, and the fungus <i>N. pseudotrichia</i> could be re-isolated from such lesions. Therefore, <i>N. pseudotrichia</i> is the causal agent of canker disease affecting <i>C. japonica</i> in China.
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