a parasitic Fungus on Sugar-Cane and Cacao. 699 
On referring to Lindau’s classification of the Sphaerioidaceae- 
Phaeodidymae given in Engler and Prantl, it appears that the 
group is divided up according to the occurrence of the pycnidia 
singly or in colonies, and according to the presence or absence 
of a stroma. 
In Diplodia the pycnidia are free from each other, occurring 
singly, and there is no stroma. In Botryodiplodia they are 
arranged in colonies and a stroma is present. In considering 
the behaviour of the Fungus under discussion under artificial 
conditions and on the host-plants, it will be seen that there is 
great variation in the arrangement of the pycnidia, as they 
sometimes occur alone, at other times in colonies. There is, 
besides, a good deal of variation in the amount and arrange- 
ment of the hyphae surrounding the pycnidia. In some cases 
the latter appear to be embedded in a stroma, in others to 
stand in a web of hyphae. It would therefore appear likely 
that the Fungus on cacao pods in Ecuador is identical with 
that which is so common in the West Indies. 
The Fungus does not appear to have been noted in Java 
on the sugar-cane, as no mention is made of it in Wakker and 
Went’s 1 book on the diseases of the cane or in Kruger’s ‘ Das 
Zuckerrohr.’ 
It appears, however, to have been noted previously in the 
West Indies in 1878, when specimens were sent to Kew for 
examination. Some confusion in the literature seems to have 
arisen from these specimens, as will be seen by the following 
note by Massee in the Kew Bulletin 2 : — 
‘ Specimens of diseased sugar-cane were sent to Kew in 
1878 from Porto Rico for investigation. These were sub- 
mitted to the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, who gave the MS. name 
of Darluca melaspora to the Fungus present on the canes. 
The Fungus was afterwards very briefly described under 
Berkeley’s name by Cooke in ‘ Nuovo Giornale Bot.,’ vol. x, 
p. 26 (1878), where the locality was incorrectly given as 
Australia, instead of Porto Rico. Saccardo has added to 
1 Wakker and Went, De Ziekten van het Suikerriet op Java. Leyden, 1898. 
3 Kew Bulletin, p. 86, 1895. 
