Abstract
Natural hosts of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and broad bean wilt virus (BBWV) near commercial lettuce [Lactuca sativa] fields in New York included 18 and four weed species, respectively. Inoculation of diagnostic hosts was useful in discerning whether weeds were infected in cases where results with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were borderline. There were no marked differences between the natural hosts of two strains of CMV commonly isolated from lettuce and designated as CMV-L1 and CMV-L2. CMV-L2 was slightly more common than CMV-L1 (55% vs. 45% of the total CMV-positive samples). Asclepias syriaca, Barbarea vulgaris, Rorippa islandica, and Linaria vulgaris all harbored CMV in subterranean structures throughout the winter. The rhizomes of L. vulgaris also served as overwintering sites for BBWV.

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