Bob Mulrooney, Extension Plant Pathologist; bobmul@udel.edu
There has not been much new activity on the soybean rust front. Soybean rust can currently be found on kudzu in six counties in Florida and one county in Texas. Soybean sentinel plots are being established throughout the Gulf Coast region. Kudzu is also greening-up rapidly in this area of the country.
Soybean rust was confirmed by the USDA on a new host, Erythrina herbacea (common name coral bean or Cherokee bean) collected in Marion County, Florida. This is a new development. This bean would be grown here as an ornamental bean and not likely to impact the local rust situation if soybean rust was to arrive here. Erythrina herbacea is native to hardwood hammocks in the deep southern states of the eastern United States.
Coral bean: for more info see http://www.floridata.com/ref/E/erythrin.cfm