A rust was observed attacking Malva sylvestris plants in Garanhuns, state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The fungus involved was identified as Puccinia heterospora. This is a microcyclic species and has only the sexual stage: teliospores. Such teliospores are of two kinds in this species: bicellular typical of Puccinia and unicellular Uromyces-like (mesospores), which are abundantly produced in that species. This rust species has a broad geographical distribution and infects plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. This is the first report of P. heterospora attacking a species belonging to the genus Malva in Brazil. A representative specimen was deposited in the Herbarium Dimitri Sucre Benjamin of the Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (JBRJ-RB). Herein are presented the description of the fungal morphology, illustrations and comments about the distinction of this species from morphologically similar rust species.
rust; Malvaceae; Pucciniales; teliospores
