79 



The writer has since made a careful hunt for Eitdolltia yyrosa 

 and has specimens of it on tAvo species of oak collected in Con- 

 necticut and the District of Columbia. Cultures have been made 

 of these 1 , and from D'mporthc panixilica on chestnut obtained 

 from the same localities, Our studies of these cultures and 

 specimens from various localities are not yet complete, but they 

 have "'one far enough to say definitely that Diaporthe parasitica 

 belongs in the same genus with the Endothia f/yrowi on oak, and 

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

 is (hat they are distinct species. Professor Farlow has also 

 made further studies, and I have presented his paper on the 

 subject. 



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

 En dolli id (/i/rosa on chestnut in this country before the outbreak 

 of Diaporllic panisitica in 1904. Neither have we found speci- 

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

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

 galion along ihis line. If it is ever proved that our Endothia 

 </i/roxa- on the oak is exactly ihe same as Diaporthe parasitica on 

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

 si lien is a native and not an imported fungus. 



A second observation that leads me to believe that Dluporlhc 

 para*ititca 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 way Endotliia gyrosa occurs on oak 

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

 dolliin, f/i/rosa, on chestnut acts in Europe, where it causes no 

 particular trouble. This makes me believe that these 

 particular occurrences of Diaporthe parasitica in Connecticut 

 represent the fungus in its native 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 Endothia gyrosa in Europe 

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



