Fusarium Oxysporum
fungal pathogen producing wilt, chlorosis, necrosis,
leaf drop, browning, stunting, and damping-off
Our fence-line rookery of Mimosas
is gone. One
leans against the house,
propped by an overgrown Holly.
Another fell
in on itself, but still
stands by the sandbox, its
two largest
limbs rubbing out a woeful
wind-blown bark like a
lonely seal
pining for a mate.
I miss these shady migrant
trees, their
fernlike leaves, ambitious limbs,
hardworking seeds and pods.
And blooms—
what a summer explosion
of Chinese chrysanthemum
white and pink!
No matter they hitchhiked
in with botanist André Michaux
to Charleston
in 1785, then spread
to every backyard nook
and roadside
cranny of the South.
Don’t malign this copious
tree with noms
de plume like invasive species,
noxious weed, or alien
exotic plant
because the Cardinal
rule of being Southern
is you
got folks who, or you
yourself, live—
or once
lived—there.
Fusarium Oxysporum
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