Botrytis anthophila

Abstract: Summary Botrytis anthophila Bond parasitises red clover, its spores partially replacing the pollen grains in the anthers of infected plants, and giving a characteristic ash-grey colour to them in place of the normal yellow of the pollen The spores are disseminated by bees and, germinating with pollen grains on the stigmas of healthy plants, lead to the development of an intraseminal mycelium from which the systemic infection of the adult is derived The disease has been shown to be widely distributed, and to have an adverse influence on fertility in red clover The fungus has been studied in pure culture and its pathogenicity proved by infection and re-isolation Botrytis antherarum Trifolii Schlecht is regarded as synonymous with B anthophila Bond It is probable that B Trifolii Kingma, a fungus isolated from seeds of red clover, is a variety of the same species, differing perhaps slightly from the type in the size of conidia and in certain cultural characteristics