Register      Login
Historical Records of Australian Science Historical Records of Australian Science Society
The history of science, pure and applied, in Australia, New Zealand and the southwest Pacific
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Common leaf spot of lucerne and the dawn of mycology and plant pathology in Australia

Malcolm J. Ryley https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3699-1240 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, Australia.

* Correspondence to: cropdocs61@gmail.com

Historical Records of Australian Science 35(2) 105-115 https://doi.org/10.1071/HR23010
Published online: 12 December 2023

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

As the number of livestock increased in the years following English colonisation of Australia in 1788, the need for nutritious fodder, including lucerne (Medicago sativa), grew. One of the first diseases found on lucerne was a leaf spot which was collected in 1879 by George Bancroft, a physician and naturalist, in a suburb of Brisbane. The Queensland Government Botanist Frederick Manson Bailey sent a specimen to the prominent English mycologists Miles Joseph Berkeley and Christopher Edmund Broome who in 1883 formally described and named the fungus Sphaerella destructiva. That fungus is now known as Pseudopeziza medicaginis, the causal agent of common leaf spot of lucerne. It was one of over 300 fungi that were included in a 1880 paper co-written by the Reverend Julian Tenison-Woods and Frederick Bailey. At that time almost all of these fungi which had been collected in Australia were identified by overseas mycologists, particularly Berkeley and Broome. It can be argued that their 1880 paper was the first significant one published in Australia which focussed on fungi. Just a decade or so later Australian scientists, in particular Daniel McAlpine, were describing new fungal taxa on their own.

Keywords: alfalfa, common leaf spot, Frederick Manson Bailey, lucerne, Medicago sativa, Pseudopeziza medicaginis, Reverend Edmund Tenison-Woods, Sphaerella destructiva.

References

Anonymous (1815) Classified advertisement, Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 19 August, p. 2.

Anonymous (1817) Dr Anderson’s remarks upon the dairy continued, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 28 June, p. 4.

Anonymous (1825) Statement of the colonial fund of New South Wales, etc, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 6 October, p. 1.

Anonymous (1831) Thursday’s markets, The Sydney Monitor, 9 April, p. 4.

Anonymous (1861) Adelaide seed store, The Brisbane Courier, 27 November, p. 2.

Anonymous (1880) Queensland, The Launceston Examiner, 23 December, p. 3.

Anonymous (1889) The late Rev. JE Tenison Woods, Adelaide Observer, 12 October, p. 33.

Anonymous  (1896) Account of live stock belonging to the crown, etc, 15 August 1800, Historical Records of New South Wales, 4, 118.
| Google Scholar |

Anonymous  (1898) Observations on horned cattle in New South Wales, August 1806, Historical Records of New South Wales, 6, 177-186.
| Google Scholar |

Anonymous (1908a) ‘Section 7 Pastoral Production’ in Yearbook Australia 1908, pp. 278–297, https://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/, viewed June 2021.

Anonymous (1908b) ‘Section 8 Agricultural Production’ in Yearbook Australia 1908, pp. 298–359, https://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/, viewed June 2021.

Anonymous (1914) Botanist Bailey, The Register (Adelaide), 21 March, p. 2.

Anonymous (1915) Mr F Manson Bailey, Death yesterday morning, The Brisbane Courier, 26 June, p. 15.

Anonymous (1929) Father Tenison Woods, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 July, p. 10.

Anonymous (2017) ‘Tenison-Woods, Julian Edmund (1832-1889)’, in Biographical Notes, Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, Australian National Herbarium, Canberra ACT, https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/tenison-woods-julian.html, viewed June 2021.

Anonymous (2022) Phacidium medicaginis Lib., Index Fungorum, https://indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=179524, viewed November 2022.

Anonymous (2023a) List of Livestock, Provisions Plants, and Seeds, First Fleet Fellowship, Victoria Inc, https://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/library/first-fleetlist-livestock-provisions-plants-seeds/, viewed January 2023.

Anonymous (2023b) Julian’s story 1832-1889, Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, https://www.sosj.org.au/our-story/father-julian-tenison-woods/julians-story/, viewed January 2023.

Atkinson, J. (1826) An Account of Agriculture And Grazing in New South Wales, And Of Some Of Its Most Useful Natural Productions, With Other Information, Important To Those Who Are About To Emigrate To That Country, The Result Of Several Years’ Residence And Practical Experience, J. Cross, London.

Bailey, F. M. (1890) Catalogue of the Indigenous and Naturalised Plants of Queensland, James C. Beal, Government Printer, Brisbane, Qld.

Bailey, F. M. (1896) ‘Laestadia destructiva B.&Br.’, in Contributions to the Queensland Flora, Botany Bulletin No. 13, Queensland Department of Agriculture, Brisbane, Qld, p. 32.

Bailey, F. M. (1899–1902) The Queensland Flora, Parts 1–6, Queensland Government, Brisbane, Qld.

Bailey, F. M. (1909) Comprehensive Catalogue of Queensland Plants, Both Indigenous and Naturalised, Brisbane, Qld.

Berkeley, M. J. (1872) Australian fungi, received principally from Baron F von Mueller, The Journal of the Linnaean Society, Botany, 13, 155-177.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Berkeley, M. J., and Broome, C. E. (1883) IV. List of fungi from Brisbane, Queensland; with descriptions of new species.—part II, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 2nd Series. Botany, 2, 53-73.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Borchardt, D. H. (2022) ‘Tenison-Woods, Julian Edmund (1832–1889)’, in Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tenison-woods-julian-edmund-4700/text7787, viewed August 2021.

Bunn, G. (1827) Fine english lucerne seed warranted to grow, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 10 December, p. 4.

Clarke, R. G. (1980) List of Diseases Recorded on Field Crops and Pastures in Victoria Before June 30, 1980, Section 3 Pasture Legumes. Technical Report No. 65, Department of Agriculture, Vic.

Cobb, N. A. (1892) Pathological notes – a disease of lucerne, Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 2, 107-108.
| Google Scholar |

Cook, R. P. and Dubé, A. J. (1989) Host-Pathogen Index of Plant Diseases in South Australia, South Australian Department of Agriculture, Adelaide, SA.

Cooke, M. C. (1892) ‘No. 1644, Laestadia destructiva B. & Br.’, in Handbook of Australian Fungi, Williams and Norgate, London, p. 310.

“Cultivator” (1824) To the editor of the Sydney Gazette, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 12 February, p. 4.

Farr, D. F. and Rossman, A. Y. (2023) Sphaerella destructiva in Fungal databases, U.S. National Fungus collections, ARS, USDA, https://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/specimens/new_rptSpecimenOneRec.cfm?thisrec=BPI%20798911, viewed August 2021.

Howes (1830) Classified advertisement, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 29 May, p. 4.

Johnston, P. R., Quijada, L., Smith, C. A., Baral, H. O., Hosoya, T., Baschien, C., et al. (2019) A multigene phylogeny toward a new phylogenetic classification of Leotiomycetes, IMA fungus, 10, 1.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Jones, F. R. (1919) The Leaf-spot Diseases of Alfalfa and Red Clover, Caused by the Fungi Pseudopeziza medicaginis and Pseudopeziza trifolii, Respectively, United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 759.

King, P. G. (1803) List of Plants in the Colony of New South Wales That Are Not Indigenous, 20 March 1803, King to Banks, SAFE/BANKS PAPERS/SERIES 39.83, https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/9Bv6V3L9, viewed July 2021.

King, P. G. (1898) Present state of His Majesty’s settlements on the east coast of New Holland, called New South Wales, 12 August 1806, Historical Records of New South Wales, 6, 135-160.
| Google Scholar |

King, R. J. (2016) Julian Tenison Woods: Natural historian, Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales, 138, 49-56.
| Google Scholar |

McAlpine, D. (1895) Systemic Arrangement of Australian Fungi, Department of Agriculture Victoria, Melbourne, Vic.

Mussen, C. T. (1900) Seed and seed testing, Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 11(October), 856-862.
| Google Scholar |

Nichols, P. G. H., Revell, C. K., Humphries, A. W., Howie, J. H., Hall, E. J., Sandral, G. A., et al. (2012) Temperate pasture legumes in Australia - their history, current use, and future prospects, Crop and Pasture Science, 63, 691-725.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Noble, R. J., Hynes, H. J., McCleery, F. C., and Birmingham W. J. (1935) Plant Diseases Recorded in New South Wales, Science Bulletin No. 46, Department of Agriculture, NSW.

“Prospector” (1886) The Rev. JE Tenison-Woods, Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin), 4 September, p. 2.

Rehm, H. v (1896) Forma medicaginis (Lib.), Dr L Rabenhorst’s Kryptogamen Flora von Deutschland, Oesterrleich und der Schweiz Bd 1, Abt, 3, 598 [In German].
| Google Scholar |

Rossman, A. Y., Farr, D. F., and Castlebury, L. A. (2007) A review of the phylogeny and biology of the Diaporthales, Mycoscience, 48(3), 135-144.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Saccardo, P. A. (1873) Mycologiae venetae specimen – Ph. Medicaginis Sacc. (Species nova), Atti della Società Veneto-trentina di Scienze Naturali Residente in Padova, 2, 145. [In Latin].
| Google Scholar |

Saccardo, P. A. (1886) #42, Laestadia destructiva, Sylloge Fungorum Omnium Hucusque Cognitorum Addidamenta ad Volumena, 1–4, 62-63 [In Latin].
| Google Scholar |

Saccardo, P. A. (1887) Funghi contenuti nelle crytogame arduennae, Malpighia, 1, 454-459 [In Latin].
| Google Scholar |

Saccardo, P. A. (1889) Pseudopeziza medicaginis, Sylloge Fungorum (Discomyceteae), 8, 724. [In Latin].
| Google Scholar |

Samac, D. A., Rhodes, L. H., and Lamp, W. O. (2014) Diseases of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), APS Common Names of Plant Diseases, American Phytopathological Society, St Paul, MN, USA.

Samson, P. J. and Walker, J. (1982) An Annotated List of Plant Diseases in Tasmania, Department of Agriculture, Tas., viewed August 2021.

Shivas, R. G. (1989) Fungal and bacterial diseases of plants in Western Australia, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 72, 1-62.
| Google Scholar |

Simmonds, J. H. (1966) Host Index of Plant Diseases in Queensland, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane Qld.

Spafford, W. J. (1931) Lucerne Growing in South Australia, Department of Agriculture of South Australia, Bulletin No. 246.

Stewart, F. C., French, G. T., and Wilson, J. K. (1908) Troubles of Alfalfa in New York, New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, NY, USA, Bulletin No. 305.

Sumner, R. (2022) ‘White, Cyril Tenison (1890–1950)’, in Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT.

Tenison-Woods, J. E. (1880) Presidential address, Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales, 4, 471-491.
| Google Scholar |

Tenison-Woods, J. E. (1881) Presidential address, Proceedings -of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales, 5, 638-652.
| Google Scholar |

Tenison-Woods, J. E. (1886) Report on Geology and Minerology of Northern Territory, Parliamentary Paper No. 122, South Australia Parliament, Government Printer, Adelaide, SA.

Tenison-Woods, J. E., and Bailey, F. M. (1880) On some of the fungi of New South Wales and Queensland, Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales, 5, 50-92.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

White, C. T. (1944) The Bailey family and its place in the botanical history of Australia, Journal of the Historical Society of Queensland, 3, 362-368.
| Google Scholar |