Apr. 15, 191S Phoma Destructiva 19 



identification of the causal organism was difficult, but in slides made from 

 different parts of the discolored tissue some brownish subglobose pycnidia 

 and a few hyaline i -celled spores of Phyllosticta lycopersici were observed. 

 Efforts made to secure cultures of Phyllosticta from the type specimen 

 were unsuccessful. From descriptions of the fungi given by Plowright 

 and Peck and from examination of the type specimen just described in the 

 opinion of the writer it appears that Phoma destructiva Plowr. and Phyl- 

 losticta lycopersici Pk. are synonymous and that the Phoma described in 

 this article is identical with them. Because of these facts and in order 

 to avoid confusion of names, it has been thought best to adopt Plow- 

 right's nomenclature. The fungus described in this paper as causing 

 fruit-rot, stem- and leaf-blight of the tomato is therefore designated as 

 Phoma destrtictiva Plowr. emend. 



Phoma destructiva Plowr. emend. 



Phoma destructiva Plowr., 1881, in Card. Chron., n. s. v. 16, no. 411, p. 620. 



Phyllosticta lycopersici Pk., 1887, in 40th Ann. Rpt. N. Y. State Mus. Nat. Hist., 1886, p. 57. 



Phoma sp. Marchal, 1900, in Bill. Agr. [Brussels], t. 16, no. i, p. 18. 



Diagnosis.— Spots on tomato fruit, brown to black, membranous or carbonaceous, 

 definite. Pycnidia scattered to aggregate, most abundant toward center of spot, 

 subcutaneous later erumpent, glabrous, brownish black, subglobose, slightly papil- 

 late, not beaked, ostiolate (usually one, sometimes two pores), 30 to 350/4 in diameter; 

 pycnidial wall thin, outer cells brown, inner cells hyaline; delicate filiform basidia 

 arising from inner cells. Pycnospores issue in coils through ostiolum, forming a 

 slimy flesh-colored exudate; hyaline, continuous, i-celled, 2-guttulate, subcylin- 

 drical to subglobose, rarely tapering, variation (100 measurements) 2.8 to 8.5 by 1.7 

 to 3.4//; produced singly on unbranched filiform basidia. Hyphae septate, branching, 

 hyaline to brownish, vacuolate. No definite stroma. No perithecial stage observed. 



Habitat. — Parasitic on fruit of Lycopersicon esculentum, spots occurring on tomatoes 

 (green and ripe), usually near stem end, i to 3 cm. Conspicuous, dark, definite, 

 sometimes coalescing; tissue membranous to carbonaceous, depressed, with dark, 

 minute, pimple-like pycnidia. Observed upon tomato fruit received from Florida, 

 South Carolina, Kansas, New York, and Cuba. 



CONCLUSIONS 



As a result of inoculation experiments, Phoma destructiva Plowr. 

 emend, has been proved an active wound parasite upon green and ripe 

 tomato fruit. 



This fungus also causes a leaf spotting of tomato and potato plants. 



LITERATURE CITED 

 Cooke, M. C. 



1885. New British fungi. In Grevillea, v. 13, no. 68, p. 89-100. 

 Ellis, J. B., and Everhart, B. M. 



1900. North American Phyllostictas ... 74 p. Vineland, N. J. 

 Harter, L. L. 



1914. Fruit-rot, leaf-spot, and stem-blight of the eggplant caused by Phomopsis 

 vexans. In Jour. Agr. Research, v. 2, no. 5, p. 331-338, pi. 26-30. 

 Marchal, Emile. 



1900. Rapport sur les maladies cryptogamiques ... In Bui. Agr. [Brussels], 

 t. 16, no. I, p. 9-21. 



