Species of the Month April 2024

Bluebell Rust Uromyces muscari

 

During 2024, our 20th anniversary year, we are revisiting our Species of the Month archive to reshare some of our "greatest hits" through the years. This month we are going back to May 2021, and the very under-recorded Bluebell Rust. The number of records has crept up since we first highlighted it (from 126 to 197), but there is sure to be many clumps of Bluebells with rust going unnoticed. Can you help bump the numbers further?

Bluebell Rust is a fungus with small fruiting bodies which cause discolouration on the leaves of Bluebell species. This takes the form of yellowed areas filled with dark brown/black pustules, which are visible on the upper and lower sides of the leaves, making it quite easy to spot. May is a good time to find this fungi, whilst bluebells are in full leaf. You can see further photographs on NatureSpot.

Bluebell Rust is probably found on most bluebells in Wales, but we only have 126 records in the SEWBReC database (view the Wales wide distribution on Aderyn).

If you spot Bluebell Rust during May (or at any other time of year), please send us the record, ideally via SEWBReCORD or the LERC Wales App. Instructions on how to submit records are available here.