79 



TIk^ writer lias since made a carertil liniil lor Ijinlolhla (jijrom 

 and haw specimens of i( on (wo species of oak collected in Con- 

 ned icnl and (lie l)is(i'ic(, of ('olnnibia. ('nUnres liave been made 

 of (liese, and fi-om Dia^poillic parasUicn on cli('s(nn( obtained 

 from th(i same localities. Onr stndies of these cnltnres and 

 specimens from varions localities are not yet complete, bnt they 

 have i;(»ne far enoni;h to say delinitely (ha(, />/>/y>or///c' iKinisiticn, 

 belongs in (he same genns with the KxdolbUi (/ijrosa on oak, and 

 at least is very closely related to it, thongh at present my opinion 

 is that tbey are distinct species. l*rofessor Farlow has also 

 made fnrther studies, and I have i)resented his paper on the 

 subject. 



We have not been able so far to find in literature a reference to 

 EiidotJiia fji/rosa on chestnut in this country before the outbreak 

 of Diaporthe parasitica in 1904. Neither have we found speci- 

 niens in an herbarium that were collected before that date. We 

 have not, however, quite exhausted all opportunities for investi- 

 gation along this line. If it is ever proved that our Endotliia 

 gi/rosa on the oak is exactly the same as Diaport'hc parasitica^ on 

 the chestnut, of course it is at once apparent that Diaporthe para- 

 sitica is a native and not an imported fungus. 



A second observation that leads me to believe that l>ai.p<n'[hc 

 parasititca is a native species is the fact that frequently in Con- 

 necticut I have found it as a languishing parasite on the roots 

 and base of trees, where it was doing no very apparent harm, 

 and this is somewhat the waA^ Endothia gyrosa occurs on oak 

 here and elsewhere, and is also \]\q way that the so-called En- 

 dothia (jijrosa on chestnut acts in Europe, where it causes no 

 particular trouble. This makes me beli(;ve that these 

 particular occurrences of Diaporthe parasitica in Connecticut 

 represent the fungus in its naj;ive condition as an inconspicuous 

 parasite, rather than as an introduced pest that is bound to kill 

 those particular trees. Likewise, I believe that at least part of 

 the so-called spread of the disease in this country is merely an 

 unusual development of the fungus which has existed there for 

 years in an inconspicuous way. 



A third indication that the chestnut blight is a native species 

 is a comparison of the situation of Endoihi<i f/i/rosa in Europe 

 and in this country. In Europe Endothia gijrosa has been re- 



