I'm hoping that someone can help me with a problem.

I have a weird virus that's affecting some of my echinacea in one of my
flower beds.

You can see what it looks like he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/viralbynature.html

Green, leathery, petals, and some are growing new flower heads out of
their 'petals'.

Does anyone have any idea which virus could be causing this problem?

Could it have been vectored by the hoppers I found on the plants (also
shown)?

And my final question is almost rhetorical ... do I need to destroy the
affected plants?

I'd appreciate your input. Thanks.

EV

I have a weird virus that's affecting some of my echinacea in one of my
flower beds.

It looks like Aster Yellows. Aster yellows is caused by a tiny organism known
as a phytoplasma and is spread from plant to plant by leafhopper feeding. Once
infected, there is no cure. Diseased plants should be promptly removed and
discarded to reduce further spread.
sed5555

Sed5555 wrote:

I have a weird virus that's affecting some of my echinacea in one of my
flower beds.

It looks like Aster Yellows. Aster yellows is caused by a tiny organism known
as a phytoplasma and is spread from plant to plant by leafhopper feeding. Once
infected, there is no cure. Diseased plants should be promptly removed and
discarded to reduce further spread.
sed5555

Thanks for the information. I googled phytoplasma because I'd never hear of it
before. Very interesting. One site mentioned that Tetracycline would cure a
plant:

http://www.plantpath.wisc.edu/soyhealth/caq.htm
[]
Remission of symptoms and even curing a plant can be achieved through the
application of the antibiotic tetracycline (which is also a way to tell if you
have a phytoplasma!) (McCoy and Williams 1982)

I wouldn't get antibiotic for echinacea, but it might be useful for rarer
specimens. I wonder how one would use it? As a foliar spray?


EV