COCO-NUT AND OTHER PALMS U05 



The petioles frequently break, leaving the sheaths. The 

 nuts are shed frequently before the yellowing of the 

 leaves. The fungus can be found in both roots and 

 petioles, but is seldom found in the trunk. It comes 

 to fruit on the petioles. The mycelium pierces the 

 cortical cells of the roots and causes them to become 

 shrunken. The point of attack has not been definitely 

 determined, but the fungus clogs the tracheary tissues, 

 and interferes with the passage of water. It kills the 

 trees in from three to four months. The tops of the trees 

 should be treated in the same manner as for bud rot, 

 and the soil should be well drained. 



A similar disease, due to Botryodiplodia sp., which 

 attacks the roots and cuts off the water-supply, causing 

 the trees to die of drought and starvation, has been 

 reported from Borneo by H. N. Eidley. It attacks the 

 coco-nut, betel, and caryota palms. 



Stem-Bleeding Disease. This disease has been re- 

 ported as serious in Ceylon, and is said to be due to 

 Thielaviopsis ethacetica, Went, which is the cause of 

 a disease of the sugar-cane (see page 84). The disease 

 causes the bark to crack and a viscid sap is exuded, 

 which becomes dark and then black. On young trees 

 the patch is small, and not an index to the amount of 

 internal injury ; in trees from ten to forty years, the 

 trunks frequently become hollow, but in trees of more 

 .than forty years it is of little consequence. 



The wasting disease of the coco-nut is a rather in- 

 definite disease which has been reported from Jamaica. 

 The leaves droop and fall prematurely, the nuts 

 fall slowly, and finally the tree dies. The cause is 

 unknown. 



The coco-nut trunk rot is another disease which has 

 been reported from Jamaica and Cuba. Fungi of some 

 kind appear to enter the tree through wounds and cause 

 the interior to rot. The top may live for some time with 

 the hollow trunk, but the tree eventually dies. 



E. B. Copeland * describes a very severe bud rot for 



1 Phil. Agri. Rev. 1. No. 5 (1908), pp. 210-220. 



