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Daylily rust is caused by the fungus Puccinia hemerocallidis. It is not a new disease of daylilies, having been reported previously from China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Russia (Sakhalin, Kuriles and Siberia). There is a record of daylily rust specimens having been collected in Siberia, Russia, in 1878. Unfortunately, the disease has now arrived in North America, and was first identified in the south-eastern United States in August 2000. Because of widespread shipping of infected plants, by late 2001 daylily rust had been identified in approximately 30 US States, Canada and Australia,
however it did not necessarily persist through the subsequent winter
in all of these areas. In nature, the main method of rust spread is by wind blown spores.
How this disease will affect daylilies continent wide is not yet known because it hasn't
been present here for a sufficient length of time. Daylily rust so
far appears to have successfully overwintered in the warmer
areas of the United States to USDA Zone 7. It apparently
did not persist in all infected Zone 7 gardens however,
therefore it is hoped that rust will not be a significant
problem in colder zones unless, perhaps, it
can utilize the alternate host, Patrinia, as it
does in Asia. Some
people are also concerned that daylily rust could persist in areas where
there is a protective covering of deep and continuous snow
throughout the winter, or perhaps under a heavy winter mulch.
Research is continuing into
the biology and winter survival of this disease.
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