mosaic-like pattern on Astrantia leaves

Winnetka, IL

Some of my Astrantias are showing a weird patterning in their leaves. Is this super bad? Should I be ripping them out? None of the nearby seedlings have this.

Thumbnail by plantaholic186
Winnetka, IL

Here's a close-up

Thumbnail by plantaholic186
The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a)

This is a hard one - at least for me. I'd never even heard of an astrantia before.

The first thing that struck me was the mosaic virus look it has. But I googled astrantia and apparently it doesn't suffer from this virus.

I also noted to myself that cercospora (a fungus) looks like this on pittosporum, so just in case astrantia might be susceptible, I googled again. Nope.

Apparently, astrantias simply are disease free.

Is there a possibility that your astrantia is supposed to have that pattern on the leaves?

So sorry I couldn't help....

mid central, FL(Zone 9a)

it almost looks like it was sprayed with something oily. any chance of that?

Winnetka, IL

Thanks so much for the brainstorming.

ceejaytown:
I'm sorry I forgot to use the common name: masterwort.
Hmmm.... my Astrantias didn't have this problem for the past two years, so I don't think it's supposed to happen. There was a moment when I thought maybe I had a new var. or cv., but it seems unlikely.
I am ashamed to say it never occured to me to google Astrantia itself for disease proclivity! I just googled looking for leaf problems. These are cultivars, so I googled each, all described as disease resistant as well. There was one mention of 'Lars' as having a 'glow' in the third year, so maybe this is some weird type of 'glow'? (Although that may have applied to the flowers).

Truckinsand:
If it was sprayed with something oily, then I have a mystery interloper who doesn't like me very much! And none of the other plants nearby show this coloration.

The best I could think, other than some fungus, was that this year has been weird for everything: a very wet winter, so we have tons and tons of bugs (grasshoppers, Jap. beetles, earwigs, you name it). My Jap. maples are also scorching terribly this year, which hasn't been a problem for the past several years.

I guess I'll risk leaving them in the soil and see what happens next year.

The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a)

We had this turn up on some Philippine violet (Barleria) leaves at Extension this week. The agent just referred to it as angular leaf spot (fungal). There are several fungi that can cause this. Unfortunately, the crew cleaned up all the leaves (destroyed them) so we didn't get a chance to send any samples off to the diagnostic lab. If they show up again, we will do just that for a definitive diagnosis. And that is something you could do, too. Your county Extension office could tell you where to send a sample (probably to the U of Illinois), or they could send it for you (we do that). Sorry that I couldn't be of more help.

Winnetka, IL

Thanks, ceejaytown. I'll try the Extension office for advice/id. It also occurs to me now that I could try the botanic garden as well.... so many resources that I never think of!
You have been a great help.

mid central, FL(Zone 9a)

i thought of this thread the other day. while at the vet's office, i was checking out the plants and noticed a large oak with the same black, oily looking spots. it seemed identical to yours. i guess this is more common than we think.

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