Carnation. 



271 



CARNATION. 



FUNGOUS DISEASES. * 



Anthracnose ( Volutella sp.). 

 Description. Although anthrac- 

 nose is apparently an introduced 

 disease, it has become so wide- 

 spread that it is now one of 

 the most serious of the many 

 fungi attacking carnations. The 

 fungus causes grayish -brown, 

 sunken areas to appear at the 

 bases of the leaves, these being 

 marked with small black eleva- 

 tions covered with bristly points. 

 The parasite also grows in the 

 stems of flowering plants, caus- 

 ing the parts beyond the affected 

 portion to suffer from want of 

 nourishment, a symptom read- 

 ily distinguished by an expe- 

 rienced florist. Cuttings very 

 frequently contain the disease, 

 and for this reason they cannot 

 do well. 



Treatment. Avoid spreading 

 the disease w r hen propagating 

 the carnations; only healthy 

 stock should be used. If there 

 is danger from infection, the 

 most promising method of pre- 

 venting the spread of the disease 

 is to keep the plants growing 

 well, and to spray them with 

 some good fungicide, as the Bor- 

 deaux mixture. To avoid stain- 

 ing the plants, the ammoniacal 



1 See, also, Atkinson, Carnation Dis- 

 eases. A paper read before the American 

 Carnation Society, 1893, Am. Fl. viii. 720. 



FIG. 49. Carnation rust. 



