A study was made to detect the occurrence of fungi on seeds of nine species of herbaceous ornamental species (Dahlia pinnata, Petunia x hybrida, Phlox drummondii, Rudbeckia hirta, Salvia farinacea, S. splendens, Tagetes patula, Viola tricolor and Zinnia elegans) planted in the Federal District of Brazil. Subsamples of 100 seeds of each species, with or without desinfection with 70% alcohol and 1% sodium hypochlorite, were submitted to the blotter test on filter paper to detect fungi. Fungal species from these seeds were detected and isolated on PDA 32, with 88% of specimens identified as mitosporic fungi, 6% as Ascomycota, 3% as Zygomycota, and 3% as Oomycota. Alternaria, Cladosporium, Bipolaris, Curvularia, Exerohilum, Aspergillus and Penicillium were the most frequently detected genera. The highest number of fungi occurred on seeds of D. pinnata, T. patula and P. drummondii. Probably, Alternaria alternata, Alternaria spp., Bipolaris spp., Curvularia lunata, C. protuberata, Exserohilum sp., Phoma glomerata, P. multirostrata, Pythium sp., and Ulocladium atrum have been reported for the first time in the Federal District, Brazil, on seeds of ornamental plants. This appears to be the first report in Brazil of: Alternaria alternata on seeds of Dahlia pinnata, Salvia farinacea, S. splendens and Tagetes patula; Curvularia lunata on seeds of Rudbeckia hirta and T. patula; C. protuberata andPhoma glomerata on Zinnia elegans; Phoma multirostrata on Salvia splendens and Ulocladium atrum on seeds of Viola tricolor.
Alternaria; Bipolaris; Phoma; Dahlia; Phlox; Tagetes
