Cloned Abutilon mosaic geminivirus (AbMV) has been re-transmitted to Abutilon sellovianum (syn. striatum) plants by a two-step combined agroinfection/grafting method. The symptoms induced were indistinguishable from the characteristic mosaic of ornamental Abutilon plants. Therefore, we can exclude that a mixture of different AbMV variants is responsible for the striking variety of Abutilon leaf pattern elements. Analysis of the symptoms on consecutively infected leaves suggests that mosaic formation depends on routing and timing of super-imposed virus waves.