Resumen
- The flagellate was observed in tissues and in sap expressed from diseased palms in 3 widely separated regions. Light and transmission electron microscopy indicated these organisms in sieve tube elements of the phloem of root, bud and inflorescence tissues. Flagellates were present in dwarf coconut palms with lethal wilt in Tumaco on the Pacific coast near the border with Ecuador, in mature African oil palms affected with sudden wilt disease (marchitez sorpresiva) in the Amazon basin and in immature African oil palms with the case nine (caso nueve) syndrome in north central Colombia. They were morphologically indistinguishable from P. staheli, thus extending the geographic range of this suspected plant pathogen. Preliminary attempts to culture them failed.