42 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



tree to the other. Diplodia epicocos is a very common 

 fungus on dead coco-nut leaves in the American tropics, 

 which has generally been regarded as quite harmless. 

 Diplodia and Botryodiplodia have spores exactly 

 alike, but are supposed to differ in that the former bears 

 its reproductive structures directly on the vegetative 

 ones, while the latter develops from its vegetative 

 filaments a solid dark mass of fungus tissue, on which 

 in turn the reproductive cells arise. It is perfectly 

 possible that the same fungus should produce its re- 

 productive bodies directly from the vegetative under 

 some conditions, as on the pod of cacao or on the dead 

 leaves of coco-nut, but indirectly under others, such as 

 it finds on the coco-nut petiole and roots. 



The latest word on these fungi is that of Bancroft, 

 recently Mycologist of the Federated Malay States, who 

 raised an ascospore form of the Diplodia on Hevea, 

 certainly the same as that infesting cacao, and showed 

 that its proper name is lliyridaria tarda. 



According to Fredholm, the fungus causing the 

 petiole disease, which he calls Diplodia, very generally 

 initiates the bud rot in Trinidad. From the careful 

 description of the symptoms of the latter in Cuba, given 

 by Home, this seems possibly to be the case in that 

 island as well. The damage done by Diplodia by 

 creating conditions favourable to the spread of bud rot 

 might prove many times as serious as anything it can 

 do directly and by itself. However, Bancroft writes 

 that he has often found it on diseased buds of coco-nut 

 in the Malay States, but regards it as a mere saprophyte. 



An unknown fungus is said to attack the nuts them- 

 selves in British Guiana. Another is reported from 

 Vitilevu, where it destroys the lamina of the leaves, 

 leaving the midrib naked ; this reads more like the 

 work of some insect. 



As already noted, there are many fungi saprophytic 

 on the coco-nut. There are several dozen of these in 

 the Philippines. It is very probable that some of these 

 have the power to advance the decayed tissue in which 



