Bulletin 229, Diseases of Citrus in Florida


of entrance for other fungi which break down the fruit. Con-
sequently, fruit affected by anthracnose or similar spotting is
worthless for shipping. On very mature, overripe fruit certain
strains of the withertip fungus may produce a soft, pliable de-
cay and dropping in the field. Conspicuous anthracnose lesions
commonly develop about gashed or punctured places in the rind
where the fruit has been swung against thorns by high winds.
Such blemishes are especially common on grapefruit (Fig. 40)





















Fig. 41.-Anthracnose of young Key limes resulting from infection of
 fruits developing during the rainy summer period. Note the numer-
 ous prominent corky spots, deformation, and splitting of the fruit.
and cause a large amount of fruit to be culled at the packing-
house. Other fungi than the withertip fungus, however, also
commonly contribute to the decay of fruit following such in-
juries.
 Spots of the same general nature as anthracnose blemishes
may also be caused by organisms other than the withertip fun-
gus. Such spots also develop frequently following a physiologi-
cal breakdown or pitting of the rind of fruit which has been
held on the trees after it has attained maturity. This trouble
develops abundantly during some years and constitutes an im-
portant source of loss, especially if such fruit is placed in cold
storage. Cold storage spots, now considered to be a physiologi-