Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve L
That particular plumeria, Maya, is imported from Thailand which is famous for imparting viruses in their plumeria and producing some of the wildest looking variegated blooms around. In the case of Maya, the leaves became variegated. These viruses are commonly thought to be transferrable from one plant to another if the are in close proximity but to my knowledge, they have not produced any fatalities. My own Princess Victoria is a virused plumeria with beautiful, but only occasional, variegated blooms.
Steve
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The variegation of the leaves on Plumeria Maya is actually a chimera and not a virus.
It is true that the Frangipani Mosaic Virus can be spread by transfer of sap manually, usually on a cutting tool. The streets of Bangkok are lined with plumerias, many of which are showing the virus. The virus seems to show itself more when the trees are stressed. The neglected trees at KoKo Crater in Hawaii also are showing the virus. That being said, there are many Thai plumeria growers and sellers who are conscientious about keeping their gardens free of the virus and not selling virused plants.
Yes, Joey Rosselli was probably one of the first to intentionally infect his seedlings with the virus once he got ahold of a virused plumeria. His Princess Victoria is actually Metaire Pink with a virus. He also has a Princess name for a Jeannie Moragne with a virus. Some people are not a fan of Joey Rosselli's plumerias since he intentionally infected his seedlings with the virus.
While many plants have viruses that they can live with, many plants end up looking sick because of them. I've had brugmansias, passifloras, abutilons, and other plants with viruses, and they have ultimately ended up in the trash. I've also had a few plumerias with viruses, and they too get destroyed. Some people really like the look of the virused flowers and have paid top dollar for them; others don't like the way the virus changes the appearance of the flower and prefer to keep their collections clean.