Pest Alert: First Massachusetts find of daylily rust in 2006 (July 20, 2006)
Daylily rust (Puccinia hemerocallidis) was found on daylily cultivars from the Twice as Nice collection in Cohasset, MA in Norfolk County on July 12, 2006. Symptoms of daylily rust were observed on 52 plants the nursery received in a shipment this year. The infected plants are being held under quarantine and treated with fungicide. The infected varieties include Red Cadet, Custard Candy, Always Afternoon, Awakening Dream, Daring Dilemma, Siloam David Kirchhoff, Charles Johnston, Scarlet Orbit, and Hush Little Baby. 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. Daylily rust has been reported from over 30 states. 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.