Rose Rosette Disease

A Technical Report from The Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories

Rose rosette is a highly destructive and lethal viral disease affecting all roses. Rose rosette disease (RRD), first observed and described in 1941 in the western United States, has spread across the country. The disease range expansion over the last 70-80 years is, in part, due to the planting and spread of the invasive multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora). Once mistakenly attributed to a phytoplasma, RRD is now known to be caused by a virus in the genus Emaravirus that is transmitted by the eriophyid mite Phyllocoptes fructiphilus.