Country: United States

Title: Gladiolus Rust [Uromyces transversalis (Thum.)] detected again in Florida - United States

Contact:
Staff Officer Dr. Anwar Rizvi at (301) 734-4313

Report: On March 10, 2008, an inspector with Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry (FDACS-DPI) submitted a gladiolus leaf sample as a suspect positive for gladiolus rust (GR) from a commercial gladiolus production farm in Hendry County, Florida. The FDACS-DPI's Pathologist confirmed that the sample was positive for GR, Uromyces transversalis. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Plant Protection and Quarantine's (PPQ) National Mycologist, confirmed the diagnosis on March 14, 2008.

The GR detection in Hendry County, Florida, represents the first detection of GR in Florida for 2008. GR was found in 2006 and 2007 at this same gladiolus production site. Following the initial find, further survey of the affected production site revealed more GR-infected plants. FDACS-DPI and APHIS-PPQ will be conducting a comprehensive survey to determine spread of the rust as outlined in the National GR Management Plan for Exclusion and Eradication. Further discussions on mitigation and eradication of the rust are planned, according to the compliance agreement in place for the management/eradication of GR at the commercial gladiolus production farm in Hendry County, Florida.

GR is a plant disease of quarantine significance in the United States that primarily attacks hybrid cultivars of gladiolus grown for flower production and could have significant impact if it became established or was transported into greenhouses or nurseries.

Under IPPC Standards, Uromyces transversali is considered to be a pest that is transient: actionable and under eradication in the United States.
 

Posted Date: April 8, 2008, 9 a.m.