292 MANUAL OF FRUIT DISEASES 
ROSETTE 
Cause not established 
The rosette disease affects many kinds of peaches, both 
budded fruit and seedlings. Probably the same disease occurs 
on many varieties of plums and almonds. 
The disease was first described as a probable southern varia- 
tion of peach-yellows, but later it was referred to as a distinct 
disease. The earliest record dates back to 1879, when it was 
observed in the State of Georgia. Ten years later it appeared 
in Kansas. It has subsequently been reported from South 
Carolina, Arkansas and elsewhere. 
- Affected orchards are lost within a few years. The trouble 
is regarded as second to peach-yellows in point of obscurity 
and destructiveness. The rosette disease is more rapid in 
its destruction than is yellows, and in Georgia, a prominent 
peach state, it has a wider range than yellows. 
Symptoms. 
Peach-rosette is recognized by the development of a rosette 
or whorl of sprouts on affected limbs. The whole tree, or only 
one or two limbs, may be diseased. Within six to twenty-four 
months the tree dies. First evidence is noted in the early 
spring when the buds open. Instead of only a few winter buds 
pushing out, a great majority of them grow into shoot-axes 
in compact tufts or rosettes. Such are only two to three inches 
long, and they bear numerous small leaves. When older and 
larger leaves are affected, they show an inrolling of the margins 
and a peculiar stiffening due to the midrib becoming straight. 
Smaller leaves are seldom rolled. Affected foliage turns yellow 
early in the summer and falls prematurely. Often leaves are 
blotched, browned and deadened at the ends and margins from 
the attacks of secondary leaf fungi. Fruit on rosette trees 
falls prematurely. Diseased trees show less tendency to develop 
sprouts on the trunk and main limbs. 
