A New Exobasidium-Disease 



of 



the Tea-Plant. 



' by 

 S. Tto. aud K., Sawada. 



In May of the last year, one of the authors received a 

 diseased specimen of the tea plant {Thea sinensis L.) from Mr. 

 T. Hanzawa, who had collected it in Prov. Suruga. He and 

 Mr. M. Kaji kindly informed us, that it is one of the most 

 serious enemies of the tea planters throughout the province, and 

 that it appears early in season when the tea-leaves are just 

 unfolding. They also wrote that the loss on the first picking 

 due to this disease was estimated at about 20^^ in the districts 

 of Abe and Ihara. Some tea plantations in the same districts 

 were afiected with this disease to such an extent, that hai'dly 

 any young leaf is completely free from the diseased spots. 



During the course of the mj'cological study of Formosa, 

 another author observed also the present disease, which is a 

 verj^ common trouble in the tea districts of northern Formosa. 

 The leaves of the tea plant affected with the disease were noticed 

 from the latter part of January, and the disease often causes a 

 o-reat damage almost as much as the blister-blight. 



Under the microscope, we may easily recognise the causal 

 fungus of the disease to be a species of Exobasidium, but the 

 symptoms as well as the nature of the fungus differ from those 

 of the well known blister-blight of the same plant, caused by 

 Exobasidium vexans Massee, in many respects. 



These two places, Suruga and Formosa, are widely separa- 

 ted, yet the disease in question seems to have not yet been col- 

 lected from any of the intervening tea districts. But in the 



