242 BOTANICAL GAZETTE , [October 



uted by the owner of the plants to want of ventilation, but upon its 

 recurrence the second year, the possibility of such a cause was pre- 

 cluded by the conditions. The disease was found upon plants in 

 the open as well as upon those of the greenhouse. The first year it 

 was found only upon late varieties, but this year it appeared upon all 

 varieties in the owner's collection, the variety *' Nellie Pockett" being 

 particularly susceptible. The *' Golden Wedding/' a late yellow 

 variety, always suffers badly in the collection in question. Since 

 receiving the specimens from Fayetteville the disease has been found 

 in Raleigh, and it may be of wide distribution. 



SYMPTOMS 



The disease is most conspicuous in the flower clusters, which it 

 attacks usually upon one side, either in the bud or during various 

 stages of blooming. The affected blossoms turn straw color or 

 brownish, cease to develop, and wither, the discoloration proceeding 

 from base toward tip on each individual flower, thus distinguishing 

 the disease at once from many disorders which may resemble it super- 

 ficially. If the case be severe, and a bud be attacked while still 

 young, no rays will develop; the head will not open. If the attack 

 be later, a portion of the head, one-half or two-thirds, or more or less, 

 may develop normally and thus by contrast heighten the conspicu- 

 ousncss of the disease. Heads nearly open and apparently healthy 

 may on the following day show one side far advanced in disease. 

 The owner says, ''it developed so fast that a large perfect bloom in 

 the morning would be wilted by night." 



The receptacle turns black, and the peduncle may likew^ise be 

 blackened to a distance of one or two centimeters below the head. 

 Later, shriveling and softening of the peduncle allow the head to 

 nod in a characteristic manner. 



On the affected plants the stems are often blackened for several 

 centimeters, in a band more or less completely encircling the stem. 

 Frequently this diseased region is associated wath a leaf, the petiole 

 of which also partakes of the discoloration. 



MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION 



Under the microscope, ' diseased flowers, rays, corollas, recep- 

 tacles, peduncles, and the diseased portions of the stem all reveal 



