326 : BOTANICAL GAZETTE [NOVEMBER 
writer has been able to ascertain, no mention has ever been made 
in the literature of the parasitism of Basisporium upon plants.* 
Numerous inoculation experiments have shown conclusively 
that the fungus is strongly pathogenic to the fruits of the tomato. 
Pure culture re-isolations of Basisporium have been obtained many 
times from the advancing edge of characteristic lesions produced 
upon fruits inoculated with a transfer from the original culture. 
Single spore cultures have been made and used in all experiments 
described, in order to avoid all possibilities of contaminating organ- 
isms. 
All attempted inoculations upon unwounded surfaces of both 
ripe and green tomatoes have failed. Inoculations in wounded 
surfaces of ripe fruits have always produced the characteristic 
decay described. Soft, red lesions, two inches in diameter, have 
been produced on ripe fruits held in a moist chamber at room 
temperature, within four days. An abundance of pale, smoke 
colored mycelium is developed in a humid atmosphere. Ripe 
fruits inoculated in such wounds do not decay at a temperature 
of g°-10° C. Specimens have been held two weeks without showing 
signs of decay when kept at this temperature. 
Inoculation experiments with mature green tomatoes have 
proved positive. It is quite evident, however, that the fungus 
would grow much more rapidly and produce rot more quickly in 
ripe fruits. Green tomatoes examined after being inoculated and 
kept in moist chambers at room temperature for five days showed 
only slight surface discoloration at the wound. The locule under- 
neath, which was turning pink, showed discoloration and decay to 
a depth of one-half inch. 
The spores of Basisporium germinate readily in nutrient solu- 
tions. In freshly expressed juice of green tomatoes, as well as that 
of the ripe fruits, 90-100 per cent germination is obtained within 
twenty-four hours at 20-21°C. At 34°-3 5° C. practically all 
spores germinate within twenty-four hours; while at 9°-10° C. only 
about one-half germinate in the green juice, and 80-go per cent in 
‘In a letter, Miss A. E. Jenxrns of the Office of Pathological Collections, Wash- 
ington, D.C., reports Basisporium as having been found on cultures from corn, wheat, 
and dewberries. 
