Wattle under threat from new killer disease

AUSTRALIA'S national floral emblem, the golden wattle, is under threat from a plant infection similar to the deadly myrtle rust.

AUSTRALIA'S national floral emblem, the golden wattle, is under threat from a new plant infection similar to the deadly myrtle rust, the Invasive Species Council has warned.

The new diseases were already attacking Australian wattles grown in plantations in South Africa and would make their way here, said council chief executive John DeJose.

A recent paper in the scientific journal Diversity and Distributions found new and potentially devastating pathogens poised to strike Australia. The diseases had developed the ability to "host jump" from other species on to wattles while they were grown in plantations overseas.

"This is exactly what occurred with myrtle rust," Mr DeJose said. There are fears the "new encounter" pathogens will reach Australia, where they could cause serious damage to a landscape full of wattles that have never developed immunity.

Scientists warned of the potential impact of myrtle rust after the disease jumped hosts and attacked Australian eucalypts in South America.

GRAHAM LLOYD