APPENDIX 28T 



takes place at any point, out to the middle of the leaf- 

 blade or beyond. 



The leaf now rapidly withers and becomes brown, and 

 the process is rapidly repeated in the other leaves, until 

 the topmost or innermost leaf is reached. Finally this 

 leaf droops and withers, and the plant stands for a few 

 days or weeks with dry brown leaves rattling in the wind, 

 until a puff of wind eventually sends it crashing to the 

 earth, where it quickly rots, owing to secondary invasion 

 by putrefactive organisms. 



Another symptom of the malady, which may be seen 

 in fields where the disease is of long standing, is a decided 

 dwarfing or stunting of the whole plant. The stems of 

 these stunted plants have a constricted or " hide-bound " 

 appearance, and the leaves are curved or distorted, although 

 they do not wilt so rapidly as those of larger plants, nor 

 is the yellow colour so conspicuous. 



Another symptom that frequently accompanies this 

 stunted condition is a longitudinal splitting of the leaf- 

 bases. Only the outer-leaf bases may be involved, or 

 sometimes the split may extend to the centre of the stem, 

 in which case it sometimes happens that the young leaf 

 in the centre becomes diverted from its course upwards 

 and grows out through the split. 



If a bunch of fruit has formed on a diseased plant it 

 will generally be found to be small. Development may 

 be completely arrested after a few hands have been formed, 

 and the individual fruits are small and pinched in at the 

 calyx end. Occasional fruits scattered through such a 

 bunch become yellow rapidly. The flesh is inclined to be 

 pithy, acrid, and yellowish. 



INTERNAL SYMPTOMS 



Healthy banana tissue, when first cut open, is almost 

 dead white. After a few minutes, especially if it has 

 been <mt with a steel knife, a purplish discoloration will 

 appear uniformly distributed over the cut surface, due to 

 the presence of oxidizing enzymes. 



