Gloeosporiose of the Japanese Persimmon, 



By 

 Seiya Ito. 



(With 2 Figures in the Text). 



The parasitic fungi, which attack the Japanese persimmon- 

 tree [Diospyros Kaki L. f.), seem to be very little known. In 

 1887, Ellis and Everhart (1) for the first time described, 

 under the name of Cercospora Kaki, a fungus parasitic on the 

 leaf of the Japanese persimmon. In 1901, Brizi (4) described 

 another species Botrytis Diospyri, parasitic on the fruit of the 

 same host in Rome. In 1905, Yoshino (6) published a list of 

 fungi collected in Prov. Higo-Kiushu, in which those relating 

 to the present subject are four in number ; viz., Gloeosporium 

 sp. on fruit ; Botrytis Diospyri? on leaf, stem and fruit ; Cer- 

 cospora Kaki Ell. et Ev. on leaf ; and Fusicladium Kaki Hori 

 et Yoshino on leaf, stem and fruit. The description of the last 

 species seems to have never been published. In 1908, Salmon 

 (12) reported that Phyllactinia corylea (Pers.) Karst. occurs 

 on the same host, based upon the specimen which Yoshino 

 collected at Nanataki near Kumamoto, Prov. Higo. Besides 

 these works, no other scientific investigations seem to have 

 been made on the subject. 



During my botanical excursion in the Prov. Echigo in the 

 summer of 1910, I had the opportunity of examining and 

 collecting numerous specimens of the diseased fruits oi Diospyros 

 Kaki. The present study was undertaken with a view to 

 elucidate the most serious disease of the Kaki caused by a 

 species of Gloeosporium. 



The loss due to this disease is often quite considerable. 

 Badly affected trees have not produced even a single fruit during 



