Bulb problems- "flower soot" fungus

[Maggi Young]

Edit by maggi: reposting this here as being of general interest

Bellevalia & Muscari "flower-soot"

Post by Janis Ruksans



This was posted on Scilla and Muscari pages but as this may be of general concern too, I repeat it here:

Usually we are reporting about nice flowers and success, but sometimes I think it would be good to share information about possible problems in garden. Last spring, when Henrik Zetterlund visited my nursery, he spotted out one pot with beautiful and well looking Muscari, with only some black dust (soot) on leaves. He touched the spike and I saw how very fine powder falls out of flowers. So I for the first time saw the fungal disease which Henrik named as Bellevalia & Muscari "flower-soot" which he first  saw  on B. pycnantha about 25 years ago. It doesn't destroy the plant, but makes it sterile as instead of pollens the anthers produce this soot. The black powder on leaves is the single symptom on Muscari. I immediately destroyed this pot and carefully checked all other Muscari - fortunately no one more showed symptoms.

This spring I was surprised seeing one pot of Scilla bithynica with smaller flowers and black anthers. When I touched this - fell off known before from muscari black powder and then I note deformation of petals, too. So carefull checking of all Scillas followed and I found one pot with S. sibirica caucasica with similar symptoms. They all immediately were mowed to fireplace. Unfortunately I maid picture only from bithynica, was so shocked, that didn't pictured caucasica flowers, but symptoms were similar - deformed petals (although of normal size), fat black anthers issuing very fine black powder.

I immediately sprayed all my plantings with combination of Tilt + Carbendazim - so future pictures can be with some whitish spots on leaves. Tilt is against rust. Henrik suppose that it is some phase of rust (rust fungus has 4 different stages and different spores), but I more think that it could be some of little known fungus from Fumago/Capnodium complex, but my knowledge about those pathogens are 40 years old (when I was student). May be someone of you know something about this disease?

Picture of infected Scilla bithynica you can see on Scilla pages; may be it came with infection from wild as I saw in wild large populations of Fritillaria, Erythronium, juno Iris with heavy infection of rust.

Janis


 Photo of infection on Scilla bithynica

[Maggi Young]

Folks, check out these posts in the Scilla 2011 thread, relating to this subject:

(page 6)
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6583.msg194917#msg194917

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6583.msg194933#msg194933


 and from the Muscari thread:Muscari ...... and relatives 2011, also page 6

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6606.msg194922#msg194922

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6606.msg194930#msg194930

[Maren]

Maggi,

thank you for alerting us to this problem. One could so easily mistake it for pollen falling from the flowers.

[Maggi Young]

Another post from Janis copied  here :

"Another entry for both Scilla and Muscari pages:

With great help from Suzan, I found (really Suzan found) article about this fungal disease. From that article I made small extract about the subject. As it is just article relating of systematic topic, I added my opinion how to work with it. Fortunately now we have new systemic fungicides used by farmers on grain crops, which may be will work on bulbs, too.
This patogen belongs to the genus Vankya quite recently seperated from Uromyces, which is quite common disease on various grain crops. I suppose that now Uromyces are regarded as patogen of Dycotylodens and fungus infecting monocots (most of bulbs etc.) now is renamed as Vankya. So I think that systemic fungicides used against Uromyces (by old system) can be useable for bulbs, too. Follows extract from original article (VANKYA VAILLANTII (USTILAGINOMYCETES) ON SCILLA IN CENTRAL EUROPE.) Once more - many thanks to Suzan!

Vankya vaillantii (Tul. & C. Tul.) Ershad (Urocystales,
Ustilaginomycetes) is a parasitic fungus
affecting members of the genera Albuca, Bellevalia,
Chionodoxa, Eucomis, Hyacinthus, Muscari,
Puschkinia, Scilla, Urginea and Ornithogalum
pyrenaicum L. worldwide (Vanky 1994). The
fungus systemically infects anthers of host plants.
The anthers are enlarged, olivaceous-brown, with
sori producing a dark olive brown powdery mass
of spores. Distributed in areas with generally
warm climate in the floodplain woods.

Janis"

[Maggi Young]

The paper mentioned above was published in the Polish Botanical Journal 50(2): 145–151, 2005

 Authors: Bacigalova K., Hrivnak R., Kochjarova J., Piatek M., Vlcko J.

Title: Vankya vaillantii (Ustilaginomycetes) on Scilla in Central Europe

Source: Polish Botanical Journal
year: 2005, vol: 50, number: 2, pages: 145-151
More information

Keywords: VANKYA, UROCYSTACEAE, SMUT FUNGI, EUROPE

Discipline: BOTANY

Language: ENGLISH

Document type: ARTICLE

Publication order reference:
Kamila Bacigalova, Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 14, SK-845-23 Bratislava, Slovakia

Abstract: The paper describes and illustrates Vankya vaillantii (Tul. & C. Tul.) Ershad on Scilla vindobonensis Speta subsp. vindobonensis, Scilla vindobonensis subsp. borhidiana Z. Kereszty and a hexaploid population of S. bifolia agg. from Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. Some information on spore characters of Vankya vaillantii from different host plants is provided. The taxonomy and distribution of this smut fungus in Central Europe are discussed.








 It is freely available online so I post it here:
 Scilla disease paper.pdf (218.93 kB - downloaded 215 times.)

[Janis Ruksans]

Maggi,

thank you for alerting us to this problem. One could so easily mistake it for pollen falling from the flowers.

Yes, it is just what you think at first look, but when you start to think - you understand that pollens are much larger. I got attention just thank to one bulb of Scilla rosenii Alba, bought last autumn from Czech Republic. I was surprised seeing, what at first look I supposed as "black anthers" because anthers of Scilla rosenii allways are yellow. I just noted in my book Buried Treasures that Scilla gorganica Alba surpass Scilla rosenii Alba in beauty, because it is enhanced by black anthers of the last. When I touched the plant and saw black powder falling dawn from flowers, I understood that it is the same problem, shown to me previous spring by Henrik Zetterlund, who first met with this disease 25 years ago on Muscari pycnantha. This disease didn't kill the plant, only makes it sterile (male) and on Muscari seem insignificant, as don't change shape of flowers. On Scillas it damage flower segments, too. In any case I think that best would be to destroy infected plants as they can distribute the disease. although I suppose it is not very dangerous as distribution can be slow. In box where were planted 50 bulbs of Scilla sibirica caucasica 8 plants showed symptoms and all in same corner (the bulbs grew in this box for 3 years). So I suppose that under cultivation distribution is quite slow. But you must remember that it is widely distributed in nature and so plants can got infection from nature, too. It is the same effect what happens with Anemone nemorosa etc. "plague" (see BURRIED TREASURES) which regularly receives infection from wild.
Janis

[Marcin]

Hello everybody,

I am for the first time here so I would like to introduce myself. My name is Marcin Piatek and I am Polish scientist from Cracow working on the taxonomy of smut fungi (Ustilaginales s. lato).

The infected anthers of Scilla bithynica (and other Scilla spp.) are caused by the smut fungus, previously known as Vankya vaillantii, but now as Antherospora scillae (s. lato). We are currently working on this group and, if it is possible, we would be interesting if somebody could send me several infected plants from all infected Scilla species.

The infected plants should be dried and have all data about locality, date of collection, collector

I would be very very grateful for your help.

My working address is below:

Marcin Piatek
Department of Mycology,
Institute of Botany
Polish Academy of Sciences
Lubicz 46
31-512 Krakow
POLAND

[Maggi Young]

Greetings, Marcin, welcome to the Forum. 
Your area of interest is one which impacts greatly on most growers so I hope someone will be able to assist you with study samples of this fungus.

[Marcin]

Thanks!
Actually, the similar fungi on Bellevalia, Muscari, Chionodoxa and other Hyacinthaceae would be also interesting. It seems that they are highly specialized to host plant species ...