LASIODIPLODIA. 447 



short conidiophores, 20-40 ^x in length, and numerous para- 

 physes. When diseased pieces of sugar cane were placed in a 

 moist chamber, it was observed that there was a considerable 

 development of hairlike processes on the walls and round 

 the opening of the pycnidium, giving the colonies a furry 

 appearance which was never noted in the cane in ordinary 

 circumstances. In plate and flask cultivations there was an 

 enormous development of mycelium, forming a felt up to half ' 

 an inch thick, in which the pycnidia were embedded. Howard 

 states that the spores are very constant in size and measyre 

 20 X 10 [X ; in this respect his description of the fungus differs 

 from that of Hennings. He was able to prove by cross inocu- 

 lations that the Diplodia on sugar cane was identical with that 

 on cacao. 



In liis discussion of the systematic position of the fungus, 

 Howard writes : '" In Diplodia the pycnidia are free from each 

 other, occurring singly, and there is no stroma. In Botryo- 

 diplodia, they are arranged in colonies and a stroma is present. 

 In considering the behaviour of the fungus under discussion 

 under artificial conditions and on the host plants, it wiU be 

 seen tliat there is a great variation in the arrangement of the 

 pycnidia, as they sometimes occur alone, at other times in 

 colonies. There is, besides, a good deal of variation in the 

 amount and arrangement of the hyphaj surrounding the 

 pycnidia. In some cases the latter appear to be embedded in 

 a stroma, in others to stand in a web of hyphse. It would 

 therefore appear Mkely that the fungus on cacao pods in 

 Ecuador {i.e., Botryodiplodia theobromce) is identical with that 

 wliich is so common in the West Indies." 



In March, 1906, Appel and Laubert (7) described the 

 second known species of Lasiodiplodia, viz., Lasiodiplodia 

 nigra, which was found on the lower parts of dead stems of 

 Theobroma cacao and Carica papaya in Samoa. It formed 

 black stromata, 2 to 4 mm. in diameter. The spores in the 

 alcohol material measured 22 X 12 [x, but those developed in 

 cultures were 28-32 X 18-21 '^. The stromata were pilose, 

 and the pycnidia contained paraphyses. 



In the same month, the present writer (9) published 

 descriptions of two species of Diplodia which occur in Ceylon, 



