A COMPARISON OF THE AMERICAN BROWN-ROT 
FUNGUS WITH SCLEROTINIA FRUCTIGENA 
AND S. CINEREA OF EUROPE 
W. A. MATHENY 
(WITH SIX FIGURES) 
Is the American brown-rot fungus (Sclerotinia fructigena) of 
stone fruits identical with the fungus bearing the same name and 
occurring throughout Europe, but there found exclusively upon 
pome fruits? That S. fructigena should occur in Europe only on ~ 
pome fruits and in this country only on stone fruits appears unusual 
and to many improbable. If S. cinerea is the fungus attacking 
‘stone fruits in Europe, as all the European writers maintain, then 
the suggestion seems pertinent that our brown rot of stone fruits is 
caused by the same fungus. In fact, ADERHOLD and RUHLAND (5) 
assert that our species is S. cinerea. They came to this conclusion 
after an examination of a few preserved apothecia sent them by 
Norton, and in the absence of a more extended study their evidence 
appears inconclusive. : 
At the suggestion of Professor C. F. Hopce of Clark University, 
the writer has undertaken a comparative study of these two species. 
At first it was intended merely as a study in variation, but it soon 
of necessity became a problem in taxonomy. Our final interest 
was to determine as nearly as possible which one of the above 
species agrees more nearly with the rot of our stone fruits. 
Historical sketch 
The history of Sclerotinia fructigena dates back to 1796, whea 
PERSOON (17) gave the name Torula fructigena to a fungus which 
he found on the decayed fruit of Prunus domestica, Amygdalus 
persica, and Pyrus. This same name was retained by other 
writers, notably FuckeL (12), ALBERTINI and ScHWEINIZ (6), 
SACCARDO (23), and RABENHORST (21). In 1801 PERSOON (18) 
changed it to Monilia Sructigena, a name by which it is generally 
Botanical Gazette, vol. 56] [4x8 
