aster yellows

American  

noun

Plant Pathology.

1. a dwarfing and yellowing of asters and various other plants, caused by a mycoplasma transmitted by a leafhopper.

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Etymology

Origin of aster yellows

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

One stumbling block was the prevalence of a disease named aster yellows, which killed almost a quarter of all the plants in the trial and interfered with the long-term evaluation.

From Washington Post • Feb. 16, 2021