Abstract
Flowering geophytes are important ornamental or florist crops that mainly
have tuberous roots, tuberous stems, true tuber and rhizomes or corms. The global trade
of florists' crops including flowering geophytes is projected to be more than $100
billion annually. Plant pathogens have a direct impact on the production and
marketability of flowering geophytes. In this chapter, important flowering geophytes
viz., caladium, cyclamen, daffodils, gladiolus, lily, tuberose and tulip and their major
diseases are described with special emphasis on disease aetiology, symptoms/signs,
biology, disease cycle and management.
Keywords: Caladium, Cyclamen, Daffodils, Gladiolus, Lily, Tuberose, Tulip.