A Marasmiellus Disease of Maize in Latin America. Frances M. Latterell, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA, ARS, Plant Disease Research Laboratory, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21701. Albert E. Rossi, Biologist, USDA, ARS, Plant Disease Research Laboratory, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21701. Plant Dis. 68:728-731. Accepted for publication 23 April 1984. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1984. DOI: 10.1094/PD-68-728.

An undescribed leaf spot and associated stalk rot of maize in Mexico and Central America are caused by a basidiomycete of the genus Marasmiellus. Symptoms include blanching of elongate marginal areas of leaves, with lesions often extending to the midrib. Lesions on stalks extend downward from sheath-blade junctures. Minute agaric basidiomes form amphigenously on leaf lesions. The pathogen grows vigorously in culture, producing cottony white colonies with feathery margins. Greenish black layers of leathery compact mycelium may develop in the midst of a white colony. The disease is given the common Spanish name "borde blanco" (=white border).