1 Ocr., 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 307 
Vegetable Pathology. 
STRAWBERRY LEAF BLIGHT. 
SPHARELLA FRAGARLA, Sace. 
By HENRY TRYON, Entomologist. 
(Prats LYVIT.) 
Designations :—Leaf Blight, White Rust, Rust, Spot Disease, Sun-burn, Sun-scald, Fleckcn 
Krankheit, Taches Rouges, La Ruggine, Vaiolatura Rossa, Macchie Rosse, &c. 
Tuts affection of the strawberry, though little more than thirty-five years has 
elapsed since it was first described, is now already prevalent in Europe, North 
America, and Australia. This general distribution has, it would appear, been 
occasioned principally through trade in diseased plants. Indeed, numerous 
instances of such commercial dealings have come under the writer’s notice 
during the past few months. 
The time of its first appearance in Australia cannot now be ascertained ; 
but Dr. N. A. Cobb, the well-known Pathologist of the New South Wales 
Department of Agriculture, made special reference to its occurrence in that 
colony in 1890 in his “Notes on Diseases in Plants,” published in January, 
1891 [ (21), p. 61]-+ 
The first public intimation of the existence of Strawberry Leaf Blight in 
Queensland was afforded by the present writer, in October, 1893, though its 
occurrence in the colony had some time previous to this come under his notice. 
At the time mentioned, a paper on the subject was read by him before the 
Natural History Society of Queensland, and afterwards reproduced, under the 
heading “Strawberry Disease,” in the Queenslander of 21st October of that year. 
At the present time, it is, it would appear, generally prevalent throughout the 
southern portions of the colony, though it is not always that it occurs with 
such virulence as to form a subject of complaint on the part of strawberry- 
growers. Not infrequently, however, it serves as the unsuspected cause of a 
poor and uneven crop, or its presence may result in a greatly diminished yield 
from the second and third seasons’ fruiting. 
SYMPTOMS. 
The following quotation from the paper printed in the Queenslander, and 
above alluded to, will serve to indicate the characteristic appearances presented 
by badly diseased strawberry plants:—‘‘On the upper surface of the still 
green leaves, you will notice small, conspicuous deep-purple or red spots- 
[vid. Plate LV11., figs. 1 (upper surface) and 2 (lower surface) ]; others of 
larger size with brown centres, and others again with the centres grey or white, 
and in both cases surrounded by a dark-purple border, shading off towards the 
healthy tissues to reddish-brown. These conditions represent successive stages 
in the progress of the disease. The spots again may vary in size from one-sixth 
* Should it prove that the Phyllosticta fragaricola, Desm., represent not an autonomous fungus, 
but a special stage or condition in the life-history of Spherella fragaria, Sace., as suggested by 
Wrank { (27), p. 393] and others, its first recorded occurrence in Australia will date back to 1884, 
for in that year the late Frazer S. Crawford sent examples of this Phyllosticta to Dr. W, Trelease, 
Professor of Botany at the University of Wisconsin, remarking as follows: “It is common— 
almost universal—in South Australia, but does not appear to do very much harm there” [ (8), 
p. 547]. The same fungus was recorded in December, 1893, by I’. M. Bailey, Colonial Botanist, 
as occurring in Queensland in that year [.(26), p. 113]. This identification (as ¥. M. Bailey 
informs tbe writer) was made on the authority of Dr. M. C. Cooke. 
+In this and similar references appearing elsewhere the initial number relates to” that 
appended to titles of works consulted, given in the concluding section of this memoir. 
