Onion smut

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Onion smut
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Onions infected with smut
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Subphylum: Ustilaginomycotina
Class: Ustilaginomycetes
Subclass: Ustilaginomycetidae
Order: Urocystales
Family: Urocystaceae
Genus: Urocystis
Species: Urocystis magica
Synonyms
Smut

Uburcinia cepulae Liro (1922)
Urocystis cepulae Frost (1877)
Urocystis colchici var. cepulae Cooke (1877)

Urocystis magica Pass. (1875)

Onion smut (Urocystis magica) is a tough disease of the onion because it can last for years in the soil as spores. When the onion crop is planted the spores germinate and enter the fresh seeds.[1]

Symptoms[edit | edit source]

When the plant grows lesions form on the leaf and any bulbs that form will be covered in black spots. Most of the time infected seeds will die within 3–5 weeks of planting.[1]

Treatment[edit | edit source]

None. Lift and burn diseased plants.[2]

Prevention[edit | edit source]

Leeks and onions should not be grown in the same site for 8 years.[2]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. a b ["Crop Profile for Onions in New York". USDA. May 1999.
  2. a b Hessayon, D.G. (2009). The Vegetable & Herb Expert. Transworld Publishers, London. p. 75. ISBN 9780903505468