DIAPORTHE TOXICA SP-NOV, THE CAUSE OF LUPINOSIS IN SHEEP

In Phomopsis leptostromiformis two varieties, leptostromiformis and oc cidentalis have been known. The present investigation confirmed that o nly P. l. var. occidentalis produced its teleomorph in vitro. For this fungus, isolated in Western Australia, the name Diaporthe woodii is r ecognized. Observations of the fungal development on infected lupin st ubble in the field resulted in the discovery of the teleomorph of the Phomopsis state earlier recognized as var. leptostromiformis, which ca uses the lupinosis problem in grazing animals. The teleomorphs of the two taxa are sufficiently different to regard them as two distinct spe cies. A new species, D. toxica, is described for the teleomorph of the toxigenic Phomopsis.