Carnation Diseases 231 



of the lower leaves as well as the stems which are 

 closest to the ground. The trouble is seldom found 

 on the upper leaves, although they may present a 

 sickly pale appearance. Anthracnose is a serious 

 disease of young cuttings. Not infrequently the 

 grower loses 50 per cent of his cuttings from this 

 disease. These damp off very quickly under a great 

 variety of conditions. 



Damping Off 



Caused by Volutella leucotricha Atkinson. 



This disease seems to be confined mainly to carna- 

 tion cuttings. The symptoms are not different from 

 those of the damping off caused by other fungi. In 

 this case, the causal organism, Volutella leucotricha^ 

 first described by Atkinson, is distinct from V , 

 dianthi Hals. The mycelium of the former has a 

 tendency to swell at the hyphal cells, producing a 

 strong constriction at the septa. The conidia of 

 Volutella leucotricha are considerably smaller than 

 those of V. dianthi and the setse are different in form 

 and in color. In V . leucothrica they taper but little 

 towards the free end, are blunt at the tip and many 

 times septate, with the stroma light colored, while 

 it is black in V , dianthi. The methods of control 

 are the same as those for other damping off diseases 

 (see p. 17). 



* Atkinson, G. P., New York (Cornell) Agr. Expt. Sta. Bui. 94: 

 260-264, 1895. 



