154 HISTORY AND CAUSE OF THE COCONUT BUD-EOT. 



noted, should this disease idtimateh' be showTi to be the same as bud- 

 rot, that some of the 3'ounger royal palms are also affected, and that 

 examination showed on the inside of the leaf sheath honeycombings 

 of the tissues caused apparently by a small brown weeyil. Surround- 

 ing these injuries to the leaves are brown, water-soaked areas similar 

 to those in the royal-palm tissues already described. Wliether these 

 rotted areas may be due either directly or indirectly to the insect 

 injuries has not been demonstrated. 



A serious disease of the betel-nut palm and of the palmyra 

 palm has been reported as prevalent in India. The description of 

 the disease of the betel-nut palm as given by Mr. E. J. Butler is as 

 follows : 



The first s>Tiiptoms of the disease appear at the time of flowering. A number of the 

 flowers fall without setting fruits, and their stalks blacken and putrefy. The rot gradu- 

 ally extends along the inflorescences and affects the stalks on which nuts are forming, 

 causing the latter to drop while immature. Very often the damage does not stop here. 

 The flower stalk arises from the axil of the lowest leaf and, therefore, leads directly to 

 the base of the swollen green part of the top of the stem. This green portion consists of 

 a number of leaf sheaths which clasp the young, growing end of the palm, forming thick, 

 protective covering to the growing point. The lowest of these sheaths becomes affected 

 near the point of origin of the flower stalk, and a patch of rot makes its appearance at 

 this point. The sheaths next underlying the fu-st are then attacked, and, since the 

 internal parts are softer than those outside, the rot spreads with increasing rapidity 

 as it approaches the apical bud. ^Mien the growing point in the center of the bud is 

 reached it also is destroyed, and the whole head withers and falls off. Not alone, there- 

 fore, is the crop lost, but the whole tree is killed, the damage caused in the affected 

 districts being very -heavy. ^ 



This description answers perfectl}^ to the bud-rot of the coconut. 

 Mr. Butler, however, attributes the disease to a species of Phytoph- 

 thora. Mr. L. C. Coleman has also studied this disease, but he lays 

 more stress on the infection of the nuts than on that of the bud. He 

 writes : 



The real cause is a parasitic fungus which lives in and on the areca nuts.^ * * * 

 Occasionally it succeeds in making its way into the tissues of the tree top, and in this 

 case the tree is killed, death taking place within a com])aratively few weeks. ^ 



As the trees in this region extend up to 70 or 80 feet in height, the disease in the 

 top is to be noticed only after it is quite advanced. It is, therefore, diflBcult to decide 

 just where the preliminary infection takes place.'* 



The tree top pictured shows a decidedly different condition. Here also the nuta 

 have become diseased and have dropped off, but the bunch stalk, especially at the 

 base, appears to be perfectly healthy, nor could any trace of mycelium be found in 

 sections taken from it. On the other hand, the growing point was badly decayed, 



> Butler, E. J. Some Diseases of Palms. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture of Jamaica, vol. 5, 

 pts. 2 and 3, 1907, pp. 48-58. 



« Coleman, Leslie C. Diseases of the Areca Palm. I. Koleroga. Bulletin 2, Mycologieal Series, 

 Department of Agriculture, Mysore State, 1910, p. 4. 



'Coleman, Leslie C. Op. cit., p. 13. 



* Coleman, Leslie C. Op. cit., p. S3. 



228 



