Abstract

A foliage disease caused by C. cassiicola was first recorded on 2-yr-old G. arborea during a disease survey in forest nurseries in Kerala. The disease occurred only during the monsoon and usually only affected the mature leaves. It first appeared as irregular pale green soaked lesions which soon turned to brownish-black spots with a light brown centre. The spots later enlarged and coalesced to give a larger necrotic area which led to premature defoliation. On potato dextrose agar culture C. cassiicola was consistently isolated from the leaves. The colony, and mycelial and conidial characteristics are described. Pathogenicity in 5-month-old seedlings was confirmed, and the pathogen was re-isolated from leaf spots. The disease may not be a severe threat to nursery stock since it only affects mature leaves but a severe infection found at Arippa caused extensive defoliation of younger leaves and resulted in poor seedling growth. The pathogen has also been recorded on other tree