Abstract
Clover yellow mosaic virus (ClYMV) is reported for the first time in two cultivars of ornamental verbena (
Verbena
X hybrid) from Christchurch in New Zealand. Sequencing of a ~ 500 bp fragment of the 8 KDa triple gene block and coat protein partial genes indicated the NZ isolates were closely related to ClYMV from verbena in the UK and Poland and more distantly to isolates from clover in Australia and Japan. ClYMV has been intercepted in quarantine in tulips and detected in white clover in Auckland; the verbena isolates may represent a separate incursion into NZ.