SNOWDROP MILDEW 159 



PREVENTIVE MEANS. When the mould is observed, 

 the plant should be taken up and burned to prevent the 

 formation of the sclerotia, some of which are often formed 

 in the soil close to the bulb, and thus endanger subsequent 

 crops. 



Cavara, App. Pat. Veg., 10, tab. vi. figs. 1-4. 



SNOWDROP MILDEW 



(Sclerotinia galanthina, Ludwig. 

 =Botrytis galanthina^ Berk.) 



The bulb is first attacked, and as the leaves and flowers 

 appear above ground they are also seized upon by the 

 fungus, the result being the plant does not bloom, neither 

 do the leaves develop properly. A careful examination 

 at this stage reveals the presence of a delicate whitish 

 mould covering the leaves and flower spathes, and at a 

 later stage numerous minute black sclerotia are formed in 

 the tissues of the decaying leaves and in the outer bulb- 

 scales. The mould is of the usual Botrytis structure, but 

 the conidia differ in form and size from those of any other 

 known species, and the fact of producing sclerotia proves 

 it to belong to the genus Sclerotinia^ although the higher 

 Peziza form of fruit is not yet known. 



PREVENTIVE MEANS. Experience has shown that 

 diseased plants do not bloom, consequently all such 

 should be removed on the first indication of the disease ; 

 by so doing, the formation of conidia and consequent 

 spread of the disease is checked. 



The sclerotia resemble small black grains sunk in the 

 scales of the bulb ; all diseased bulbs should be destroyed. 



