Identification and Properties of a Carlavirus Causing Chlorotic Mottle of Florists' Hydrangea (H. macrophylla) in the United States.

A previously uncharacterized virus with flexuous filamentous particles 660 nm in length was identified in the United States in florists' hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), in which it caused chlorotic mottling, leaf deformation, and discoloration. The virus, tentatively named Hydrangea chlorotic mottle virus (HdCMV), was transmitted readily by mechanical inoculation and by Myzus persicae, but infected only H. macrophylla.