Pest Alert: First Massachusetts find of daylily rust in 2005 (June 30, 2005)

Daylily rust (Puccinia hemerocallidis) was found on the daylily cultivar Twice as Nice in Cohasset, MA in Norfolk County on June 28, 2005. Symptoms of daylily rust were observed on 40 plants the nursery received in a shipment last week. The infected plants are being held under quarantine and treated with fungicide. The other daylilies in this establishment are over 100 yards away and showed no sign of disease. An inspector from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the daylily rust will be controlled.

Daylily rust was first detected in four states in the southeastern United States in 2000. As of June 2005, it was reported in a total of 28 states. In 2003 several cases were reported in Massachusetts and in 2004 one case of daylily rust was reported. Due to the limited number of cases of daylily rust in Massachusetts it is possible to limit the spread this disease in the state. If daylily rust is confirmed on their plants, growers will be ordered to follow quarantine procedures and treat infected plants.

Please inspect new stock coming into your nurseries or gardens for symptoms of daylily rust. Raised orange-yellow to red-brown pustules will appear on both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves infected with daylily rust. If you rub a tissue along the surface of the leaves, it will pick up the bright orange spores. An isolation period of at least 6 months is recommended to ensure the plants are free of daylily rust. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is asking growers to report daylily rust via the MA Introduced Pests website (http://www.massnrc.org/pests/report.aspx) or via the plant pests and noxious weed hotline at 617-626-1779.

Please visit our daylily rust fact sheet to view photos of daylily rust symptoms and for more information about this disease. http://www.massnrc.org/pests/pestFAQsheets/daylilyrust.html

This pest alert is from the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project, a collaborative project between the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and the UMass Extension Agriculture and Landscape Program aimed at preventing the establishment of new pathogens and pests in Massachusetts. Visit the project website (http://www.massnrc.org/pests) for more information on other emerging pests and to subscribe or unsubscribe from our pest alert list.