Notes on Fungi from North-East India. I. A New Genus of Tuberculariaceae

Abstract

Comprehensive accounts of the principal diseases of tea in northeast India have been published in the past by Tunstall (1940) and Tunstall and Sarmah (1948). During the routine examination of diseased specimens of tea and its ancillary crops, the writer had occasion to isolate many interesting fungi and a few of them have already been reported elsewhere (Agnihothrudu and Barua, 1957a, b and Agnihothrudu, 1958). In view of the rich fungal flora, parasitic or saprophytic, associated with the tea gardens in northeast India, it is now proposed to record, describe or discuss fungi occurring in this area in a series of papers, of which the present is the first. In the course of investigations on the fungi associated with withering floral parts of tea Camellia sinensis (L.) 0. Kuntze, on three occasions an interesting tuberculariaceous fungus was isolated which was found to be hitherto undescribed. The fungus was first observed on dead calyces of tea flowers collected from the Tocklai Experimental Station campus, the flowers having been incubated on sterilized soil in glass trays under bell-jars. On two other occasions it was found to grow from petals plated on soil-extract agar. The fungus was seen in association with a variety of other fungi-Pestalozzia sp., Fusarium semitectum Berk. & Rav., Pullularia pullulans (de Bary) Berk., Botrytis sp., Hormodendrum resinae Lindau, Cladosporium herbarum Link ex Fr. and Helicomyces sp. Its ability to infect tea flowers has not been investigated. THE FUNGUS IN NATURE