English

Noun

curly top ‎(uncountable)

1. (agriculture) A disease of beets, gourds, and other plants, caused by the virus Beet curly top virus, which results in stunted or misshapen growth and curled or puckered leaves.
   • 1997 June 18, Karen Freeman, "Katherine Esau Is Dead at 99: A World Authority on Botany," New York Times (retrieved 19 May 2014):

     She soon joined the Spreckels Company near Salinas, Calif., where she worked on a sugar beet that would be resistant to the curly top virus.

   • 2014 April 28, Patty Cafferata, "History: Leafhoppers trounced sugar beet investors," Reno Gazette Journal (retrieved 19 May 2014):

     [T]he local pigweed hosted microscopic leafhoppers that jumped from the surrounding weeds to the beet fields. The insects spread a virus commonly referred to as "curly top."

References

• curly top at OneLook Dictionary Search