61 
dieback took the form of the complete desiccation of all the 
main branches situated between the oldest basal mass of branches 
and the apical crown of young non-bearing shoots of what was 
as yet an un-“topped” tree. After “topping” and the re- 
sulting cessation of upward growth, the desiccated branches 
were to be found also at the top of the tree, for the apical 
branches had by then come into bearing. It might be remarked 
at this point, in leaving this part of the subject, that desiccation 
of coffee branches or even coffee-tree desiccation would be a more 
correct and more scientific name for the condition known as 
diebaek, and that, when only one or a few branches are affected, 
the term anthracnose might be used. Local use and custom are 
such, however, that it is desirable to retain the name of dieback, 
and to distinguish in practice between large-scale and small- 
scale varieties of it. 
Colletotrichum and Glomerella: cross-inoculations.—After 
from fifteen to twenty days, certain of the pure cultures of 
Colletotrichum coffeanum will show caespitose perithecia of a 
species of Glomerella. These succeed the acervulus stage. This 
Glomerella has been identified at Kew as C. cingulata, 8. and v.S., 
and it has been obtained in other ways. As already mentioned, 
it may succeed the acervuli of Colletotrichum coffeanum on coffee 
twigs after the lapse of a few months. 
In the course of investigation, it was found that there were 
practically no morphological differences between C. coffeanum on 
coffee and the Colletotrichum occurring on rotted and hardened 
cacao pods. The latter from hardened pod-shells was identified 
at Kew as Colletotrichum theobromicolum, Del., but what appeared 
to be exactly the same form on rotted parts of pods had been 
regarded by the writer as Colletotrichum incarnatum, Zimm.* 
The chief point of distinction between these two species seems 
to be that the conidia of C. incarnatum stain blue with iodine 
while those of C. theobromicolum do not react in that way. The 
conidia of Colletotrichum from cacao pods have stained only 
ellow when tested, but, again, conidia from a specimen of. 
Colletotrichum incarnatum on Coffea robusta kindly sent me from 
Ceylon by Mr. Petch, did not stain blue when tested. The 
morphological differences between coffeanum, theobromicolum, 
and incarnatum seem to be too slight to justify their separation 
into distinct species. Perhaps the foregoing remark should be 
extended to include other two cacao species, viz., CU. luxificum, 
van Hall and Drost, and C. Cradwickii, Ban. Colletotrichum 
theobromae, Appel and Strunk, described on cacao pods from 
Victoria, seems to stand apart inasmuch as its conidia are 
distinctly smaller than those of the fungi mentioned. 
Further evidence of close relationship between coffeanum, 
incarnatum and theobromicolum was obtained as follows : Conidia 
of Colletotrichum coffeanum in pure culture (derived from coffee 
berries) were inserted under sterile conditions in wounds made 
* Cf, Petch, Cires. & Agric. Journal, R.B.G., Ceylon, 1910, v. 13, p. 147. 
