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Ozbreed Plants Proven as Myrtle Rust Resistant

By Katrina Layt

Myrtle Rust has been a towering topic of the industry for a few years now and the threat has made some people weary of using plants from the Myrtaceae family. Good news has arrived from recent testing at the University of Sydney that will give you confidence in using certain Myrtaceae plants again. Some varieties have been identified as Myrtle Rust Resistant. This is a huge relief for lovers of Bottlebrush and other native shrubs or trees in the Myrtaceae family. Not to mention the savings of time and money on chemicals for the treatment and prevention of Myrtle Rust.

Plants were tested by Dr. Karanjeet Sandhu, a Myrtle Rust Pathologist from the University of Sydney, and given a Myrtle Rust status varying from susceptible to highly resistant. The results show that even varieties of the same species can differ in resistance.

The Callistemons Slim™, Green John™ and Flora Burst™ were given the status of highly resistant to Myrtle Rust after testing and Macarthur™ was found to be resistant. Whereas the Callistemons Red Alert™, Scarlet Flame™ and Better John™ were noted as moderately resistant. This is still a great result, even those listed as simply resistant, as other Callistemons were susceptible to Myrtle Rust. The Lilly Pillies Sublime™ and Red Head™ were also highly resistant.  Two other trees that were also rated as highly resistant were Luscious® a Tristaniopsis and Sweeper™ a Waterhousea.

For more details on the testing visit www.ozbreed.com.au/plant-turf-research.html and click on the link for Testing Plants for Myrtle Rust Resistance.

Slim™ (pictured in middle) was found to be highly Myrtle Rust resistant.

Luscious® a Tristaniopsis was also rated as highly resistant to Myrtle Rust.