LIFE HISTORY AND POISONOUS PROPERTIES OF 
CLAVICEPS PASPALI 
By H. B. Brown, 1 
Plant Breeder , Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station 
INTRODUCTION 
During the last decade Paspalum dilatatum Poir. has attained con¬ 
siderable prominence as a forage grass in various parts of the South. 
One serious objection to its use, however, is that forage poisoning fre¬ 
quently results among cattle feeding on it. Brown and Ranck 2 showed 
that the poisonous property is due to Claviceps paspali Stevens and 
Hall, a fungus that infects the grass very generally. This species was 
described by Stevens and Hall 3 in 1910. Norton 4 observed this fun¬ 
gus on P. dilatatum in Maryland in 1902. He suspected that it was 
poisonous, but carried on no feeding experiments to determine this. 
Since September, 1914, the writer has been making a study of the 
life history of Claviceps paspali and its growth and distribution in the 
region about the Mississippi Agricultural College. In this region the 
fungus infects Paspalum dilatatum very generally, a few weeks after the 
grass heads out at least 90 per cent of the old heads showing infection. 
LIFE HISTORY OF THE FUNGUS 
Sclerotia produced during the summer and autumn (PI. 32, F) drop 
to the ground when the old grass head sheds its spikelets, and lie 
on the ground until spring. They may be found at any time during 
the winter and spring by searching in the litter on the ground where 
infected Paspalum dilatatum grew the season before. Sclerotia gathered 
during the winter and placed in moist chambers kept at room temper¬ 
ature will germinate in 20 to 30 days, but it is the writer's experience 
that sclerotia forced in this way do not produce as many nor as large 
and vigorous stromata as those that germinate in the normal way. 
After a few days of rainy weather about the middle of May. sclerotia 
germinating on the ground may be expected. They were first found 
1 1 wish to express my obligation to Dr. Charles F. Briscoe and to Prof. J. M. Beal, of the Mississippi 
Experiment Station, for the use of their laboratories in carrying on this work, and for other courtesies 
extended to me, 
2 Brown, H. B,, and Ranck, E. M. Forage poisoning due to Claviceps paspali on Paspalum. Miss. 
Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bui. no. 6 , 35 p., 18 fig. 1915. 
3 Stevens, F. E-, and Hall, J. G. Three interesting species of Claviceps. In Bot. Gaz., v. 50, no. 6, 
p. 460-463, 8 fig. 1910. 
4 Norton, J. B. S. Plant diseases in Maryland in 1902. In Rpt. Md. State Hort. Soc., v. 5, 1902, 
P. 90-99. Ii 90 2 .] 
Journal of Agricultural Research, 
Dept, of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
gf 
Vol. VII, No. 9 
Nov. 27, 1916 
Miss.—1 
