444 



RESEARCHES ON FUNGI 



an account of the life-history of Sclerotium coffeicola, based on 

 Stahel's investigations, will now be given. 



Sclerotium coffeicola is the cause of the Sclerotium disease of the 

 Coffee plant. The fungus, so far, is known to occur only in Dutch 

 Guiana ( Surinam ),i British Guiana, ^ the island of Trinidad,^ and 

 Sierra Leone in west Africa.^ 



Martyn ^ has observed that in British Guiana Sclerotium coffeicola 

 occurs as a leaf-parasite not only on Coffea liberica and one or two 

 other Coffee varieties, but also on an ornamental shrub, Gardenia 



■m 



1^ 



Fig. 224. — Sclerotium coffeicola. Leaf-spots caused by the 

 fungus, seen from the upper side of pieces of two 

 laminae of Coffea excelsa. Each spot is composed of 

 a series of concentric rings. Gemmifers are absent, 

 since they are produced only on the lower side of the 

 spots. Photographed by G. Stahel. Natural size. 



jasminoides, and on certain weeds growing in and about Coffee 

 plantations, namely Cecropia peltata, Commelina nudiflora, Vitis 

 sicyoides, an unidentified Melastomaceous plant, and a fern, Blechnum 

 serrulatum. He also found the unmistakable bristles (gemmae) on 

 the leaves of a shrub or young tree far removed from cultivation 

 and, below the tree, on decaying leaves and fruits, the orange 



^ G. Stahel, " De Sclerotium-ziekte van de Liberiakoffie in Suriname," Departe- 

 ment van der Landbouw in Suriname, Bull. No. 2, 1921, pp. 1-34, Plates I-XI. 



2 E. B. Martyn, "The Sclerotium Disease of Coffee and its Occurrence in this 

 Colony," Agric. Journ. Brit. Guiana, Vol. II, 1929, pp. 7-10 ; also " The Sclerotium 

 Disease of Coffee," ibid.. Vol. Ill, 1930, pp. 28-34. 



■* In Trinidad S. coffeicola has been observed on excelsa Coffee leaves and fruits. 

 Information communicated by S. F. Ashby. 



* S. F. Ashby, personal communication. 



5 E. B. Martyn, lac. cil.. Vol. Ill, pp. 28-29. 



