A tospovirus isolated from naturally infected cineraria plants in commercial greenhouses in Shiraz, Iran, induced rings and chlorotic and necrotic spots on leaves, growth reduction and death of the plants. The virus was transmitted by three populations of Thrips tabaci. Antisera were produced against purified virions and viral nucleocapsids and used to study the virus host range and relationships. On the basis of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, tomato, anemone, Arum sp., dandelion and pepper were natural hosts of the virus. SDS-PAGE revealed three major structural proteins corresponding to the Tospovirus N, G1 and G2 proteins. Three RNA segments were resolved in a 1% agarose gel with molecular masses of 1.02 × 10⁶ Da, 1.87 × 10⁶ Da and 2.86 × 10⁶ Da, corresponding to the virus S, M and L RNAs, respectively. No serological relationships were detected between the cineraria virus and Tomato spotted wilt virus, Tomato chlorotic spot virus and Groundnut ring spot virus using the virus nucleocapsid IgG in dot immunobinding assays. Further characterisation by nucleotide sequencing of the virus N gene revealed that it was a strain of Tomato yellow ring virus, although the cineraria isolate appears to have a different experimental host range compared to tomato isolates of the virus.