122 DISEASES OF THE SWEET PEA 



Strains isolated from the sweet pea, lettuce, 

 cucumbers, tomatoes or violets. More- 

 over, any one of these strains will produce 

 a disease on any of the hosts enumerated. 

 When the sclerotia, after being placed out- 

 doors in the cold to over winter, are taken 

 in and placed on moist sand kept at room 

 temperature, they germinate and produce 

 the typical grayish stalks with their apo- 

 thecia or fruit bodies (fig. 16). The latter 

 contain the asci in which are the ascospores 

 of the fungus. 



Like Thielavia basicola, and because of 

 its omnivorous nature, the fungus Sclera- 

 tinia libertiana may prove a great draw- 

 back to the culture of greenhouse sweet 

 peas. The parasite is usually carried with 

 the manure or may be introduced on other 

 diseased plants. Failure to recognize col- 

 lar rot or carelessness in maintaining 



