Keep an eye out for myrtle rust in your garden, local parks, and other green areas. Recognise symptoms so you can help protect our environment.
Myrtle rust is a serious fungal disease that affects plants in the myrtle family. Some of our most iconic native plants are vulnerable to myrtle rust, including:
Some exotic species can also get the disease, including ornamental plants like bottlebrush and lilly pily.
List of species found with myrtle rust in NZ
App to help you identify plants at risk | mpi.govt.nz
Look out for symptoms of myrtle rust, including:
Use the images below to help identify myrtle rust
Feijoa with raised yellow pustules indicating myrtle rust. Acca sellowiana, a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Colombia. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree and for its fruit.
Lilly Pilly with raised yellow pustules and red-brown lesions indicating myrtle rust. Syzygium smithii is a summer-flowering, winter-fruiting evergreen tree, belonging to the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It shares the common name "lilly pilly" with several other plants. In New Zealand, it is commonly known as 'monkey apple'
Mānuka with yellow and grey pustules on leaves with small red-brown lesions indicating myrtle rust. Leptospermum scoparium, commonly called mānuka, manuka, manuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to Australia and New Zealand.
Eucalyptus with raised yellow pustules indicating myrtle rust. Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Photo credit CSIRO.
Eucalyptus with raised yellow pustules on the underside of the leaf. Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Photo credit CSIRO.