A New Virus Disease of Yellow-Poplar. O. W. Barnett, Department of Plant Pathology and Physiology; Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-1003. V. B. Shelburne, Jun-Mei Yao, and F. H. Tainter, Department of Forest Resources, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-1003. Plant Dis. 80:1317-1319. Accepted for publication 5 July 1996. Copyright 1996 The American Phylopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-80-1317.

Viruslike symptoms were observed on leaves of yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) near the New River in Ashe County, North Carolina, in June 1987. Similar symptoms were seen in Oconee County, South Carolina, in 1988, and in Pickens County, South Carolina, in 1991. Many branches on the original tree in Ashe County had small leaves and shortened internodes. Leaves exhibited chlorotic veinbanding, stippling, and ring spots. Tissue from naturally infected trees was grafted to healthy yellow-poplar seedlings, and leaf symptoms similar to those on the naturally infected trees developed in the greenhouse. Sap inoculation from yellow-poplar seedlings to Chenopodium quinoa resulted in chlorotic local lesions and a faint general chlorosis. Leaf-dip preparations from both sources revealed short, straight rods; 74 particles from C. quinoa averaged 272 nm in length. This is the first viruslike disease described from yellow-poplar.