Summary Dothistroma needle blight (DNB), caused by Dothistroma septosporum and Dothistroma pini, and brown spot needle blight (BSNB), caused by Lecanosticta acicola, are some of the most serious and damaging foliar diseases of pines (Pinus spp.). Lecanosticta acicola is reported for the first time from Ireland and Portugal and confirmed from the Black Sea coast of Russia (Krasnodar region, Sochi). It has also been recovered from the first, and only, reported site in Latvia 4 years after efforts to eradicate it were undertaken. Dothistroma septosporum is reported for the first time from Ireland on Pinus sylvestris and Pinus radiata. It was also found in Comunitat Valenciana, Spain, and confirmed as the causal agent of the disease in Bulgaria. Dothistroma pini was found in Aragon, Spain, and in Arkansas, USA, where it was found on Pinus elliottii, a new host for this pathogen. A new ITS haplotype of D. septosporum is reported from the Bulgarian isolates and a new ITS haplotype of D. pini from the Arkansas isolates. These new country and regional reports extend the geographical and host range of these pathogenic fungi and continue a trend seen since the 1990s. Of particular concern are the geographically widespread new reports of L. acicola from the most north‐ and south‐westerly (Ireland and Portugal) to the most south‐easterly (Russia) regions in Europe, suggesting that not only is this pathogen continuing to spread in Europe but also is well adapted to a wide range of climatic conditions.

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Brown spot needle blight, caused by Lecanosticta acicola, is a serious disease of pines worldwide and has become of great concern in Europe over the last decade, with significantly increased outbreaks in pine forests. We examined native and non‐native Pinaceae taxa (four Cedrus and 24 Pinus) in the Atatürk Arboretum, Istanbul, Turkey, for the presence of L. acicola. Needles were sampled from 37 trees at least twice between March 2017 and July 2018. Symptomatic occurrence of the disease was confirmed by isolations, followed by molecular identification via sequencing of the ITS region. Lecanosticta acicola was isolated from symptomatic needles of 10 trees from seven host taxa (Cedrus and six Pinus). Molecular diagnostics of isolates confirmed the identification of L. acicola on Cedrus libani, Pinus sylvestris, P. nigra subsp. nigra, P. nigra subsp. laricio, P. nigra subsp. pallasiana, P. nigra subsp. pallasiana var. fastigiata and P. nigra subsp. pallasiana var. pallasiana f. şeneriana in the arboretum. This paper is the first report of L. acicola on C. libani and also the first report of the pathogen infecting a genus other than a Pinus spp. under natural conditions. Additionally, it is also the first report of L. acicola occurring in Turkey. The pathogen was clearly able to cause severe damage on native Turkish Pinus taxa, including P. sylvestris and P. nigra subsp. pallasiana, and endangered endemic forms of the host in Turkey.