In a survey of carnations grown in the Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh, India, 17 out of the 35 varieties inspected showed mottling with grey streaks or red necrotic flecks. These symptoms were similar to those previously reported for Carnation necrotic fleck virus (CNFV) (Bar-Joseph et al. , 1979). Sap from leaves with symptoms was inoculated on to Dianthus caryophyllus , D. chinensis and D. barbatus. Symptoms produced on these Dianthus spp. indicator plants included mottling, vein clearing, flecking, grey streaks or red necrotic flecks. No symptoms were observed when Chenopodium spp. were inoculated. Using a polyclonal DAS-ELISA kit (Agdia Inc., Elkhart, IN, USA), CNFV was detected in Dianthus indicator plants and the following carnation varieties: Arthur Sim, Cabarett, Charmour, Dessio, Dusty Pink, Espana, Flair, Irma, Josh, LasPama, New Espana, Orange Triumph, Prinidello, Red Carso, Scania, Shocking Pink and White Candy. The virus was transmitted in a semipersistent manner by aphid species Myzus persicae , Aphis craccivora and Aphis gossypii from D. caryophyllus to D. barbatus , with infection confirmed by DAS-ELISA. When examined by transmission electron microscopy, leaf dip preparations showed flexuous virus particles 1400–1500 nm long. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was conducted using degenerate primers specific to the closterovirus group (Karasev et al. , 1994) and an amplicon of the expected size ( ∼ 1000 bp) was generated. All these tests identified the virus as CNFV. This virus has been reported from many countries, including the USA, France, Italy and Yugoslavia, but this is the first report of CNFV infecting carnations in India.