Skip to content

2021 Beyond Myrtle Rust news

  1. Vladislav Kholostiakov, plant whisperer

    Beyond Myrtle Rust would like to introduce and welcome our newest PhD student, Vladislav Kholostiakov, to the broader myrtle rust community. Vlad is studying the microbiome (fungal and bacterial community) associating with pōhutukawa seeds and seedlings. Before moving to New Zealand from Russia, he ...

  2. What's in a name? Demystifying lilly pilly hedges

    Every winter, Beyond Myrtle Rust asks gardeners to prune their lilly pilly hedges to help prevent the spread of myrtle rust, a deadly plant disease caused by the fungus [Austropuccinia psidii]. New growth encouraged by pruning is less likely to be infected by [A. psidii] in winter.

  3. Honeybees observed harvesting myrtle rust

    An observation of bees harvesting myrtle rust spores in Auckland has recently been reported by Beyond Myrtle Rust programme member Peter de Lange, student Luzie Schmid and fellow researchers. Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) were spotted harvesting urediniospores (spores of Austopuccinia psidii, t...

  4. Scientists advise pruning your lilly pilly hedges during winter to protect New Zealand’s native plants

    If you haven’t pruned your lilly pilly hedge recently, do so this winter. Research has shown that pruning in the winter can slow the spread of myrtle rust.

  5. Myrtle rust: iNaturalist reports from last season

    It was a busy season for gardeners, trampers, scientists, and myrtle rust this past summer. There were many new observations of the fungal disease affecting the country’s Myrtaceae plant species thanks to keen New Zealanders out and about recording sightings of disease symptoms.

    Between 1 November ...

  6. Myrtle rust find reported in Christchurch

    The recent find of myrtle rust on a mature hedge in residential Christchurch marks a new southern point for the likely establishment of the disease. Previous sightings in this area have been on plants purchased in nurseries in other regions and relocated to Christchurch.

    David Havell, a technical ...

  7. Trans-Tasman collaboration unlocks genetic secrets behind myrtle rust

    In a trans-Tasman collaboration, scientists have sequenced the genome of Austropuccinia psidii, the fungus responsible for the disease myrtle rust, and produced the world’s largest assembled fungal genome.

  8. Alby Marsh - bringing people together to help fight myrtle rust

    “There’s a saying in Maoridom,” says Alby Marsh, Māori Relationship Manager at Plant & Food Research (PFR). “Kāore te kūmara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka - the kumara doesn’t talk about how sweet it is. The hardest part for me about interviews like this is talking about myself.”

    Alby lets his life’s ...

  9. Mature native trees now dying

    The death of a mature ramarama (Lophomyrtus bullata) tree on the East Cape. Image: Roanne Sutherland, Scion

    The first known case of mature tree death due to myrtle rust infection has been observed in the East Cape of Aotearoa New Zealand, suggesting localized extinction for some native myrtles coul...

  10. Field work season ramping up for the Beyond Myrtle Rust programme

    Young Lophomyrtus bullata (ramarama) plants in dense Taranaki forest, awaiting examination by the Beyond Myrtle rust team.

    After a year of interruptions by COVID-19 lockdowns, researchers from the ‘Ecosystem Impacts’ research aim of the Beyond Myrtle Rust Programme are embarking on the first fieldw...

Tags