300 Proceedings of bidiana Academy of Science 



Leonian'' recently described a stem and fruit blight of peppers 

 caused by a species of Fhytophthora which he named P. capsici. Pe- 

 culiar tuberous growths on the mycelium resembling sporangia were 

 considered a distinctive morphological character of this species. No 

 reference is made to Sherbakoff' s work' on P. terrestris. 



The morphological characters of the fungus causing the disease in 

 Indiana do not agree with either P. infestans (Mont.) DeBary, or P. 

 capsici Leonian, but do agree very closely with P. terrestris Sherb. 

 The symptoms of the disease on tomato are very similar to the symp- 

 toms of buckeye rot of tomato as described by Sherbakoff', and there- 

 fore it seems likely that the causal organism of the disease of tomatoes, 

 eggplants and peppers in Indiana is P. terrestris. 



Distribution and Economic Importance. — Buckeye rot of tomatoes, 

 caused by P. terrestris has been reported from Florida' where it has 

 caused serious losses due to the rotting of the fruits, especially those 

 touching or very near the ground. In 1919, Weimer observed buckeye rot 

 on tomatoes in the U. S. Department of Agriculture experimental field 

 plots at Arlington Farms, Virginia. In 1920, Jehle" reported the loss 

 from buckeye rot of tomatoes to be one to two per cent in the coastal 

 plain counties of North Carolina. Fritchard" the same year reported a 

 0.5 per cent loss on the experimental farms at Arlington, Va. It was 

 also reported as causing loss of lower fruits in greenhouses in Indiana". 



In 1921, Sherbakoff"' reported the loss in Tennessee from buckeye 

 rot to be approximately ten per cent, and Fritchard"' again reported 

 the disease prevalent on the experimental farm at Arlington, Va. The 

 rot was reported on tomatoes shipped from Texas and Mexico in 1919 

 in the plant disease survey bulletin. 



Buckeye rot is primarily a tropical or subtropical disease. It 

 often causes serious losses in greenhouses in the north where tomatoes 

 are grown under warm humid conditions. 



It is possible that the organism causing buckeye rot may be carried 

 from one locality to another in the soil on the roots of young plants. 

 In 1920, about a hundred tomato plants grown in Georgia were put out 

 in the experimental field at Lafayette, Ind. In 1921, tomatoes were 

 grown on this same soil and it was in these tomatoes that the epidemic 

 of buckeye rot occurred. Tomatoes were again grown there in 1922, 

 but no buckeye rot developed, possibly due to drier weather conditions. 



Sym])1o))is. — The disease as observed in Indiana affects only the 

 fruits of the host plants. The lesion first appears on the green tomato 

 fruits as a very small web or lace-like blotch five to ten mm. in 

 diameter. (Fig. 1, A). These spots look like a few dark-brown tan- 



* Leonian, Leon }I. Stem and fruit blight of peppers caused by Phytojihthora capsici 

 sp. nov. Phytopath. 12:401-408, 2 fig., 1922. 



' Sherbakoff, loc. c!t. 



s Haskell, R. J. and Wood, Jessie. Diseases of field and vegetable crops in the 

 United States in 1919. U.S.D.A. Plant Disease Bui., Supplement 10, p. 217, June 

 1, 1920. 



" Haskell, E. J. and Wood, J. I. Diseases of field and vegetable crops in the United 

 States in 1920. U.S.D.A. Plant Disease Bui., Supplement 16, page 224, June 1, 1921. 



"Coons, G. H. Diseases of field and vegetable crops in the United States in 1921. 

 U.S.D^, Plant Disease BuL, Supplement 22, p. 328-329. July 20, 1922, 



