By David O. Tebeest, 
Plant Pathology Department, University of Arkansas

Views: Watermelon Fruit Blotch.
A dark olive green stain or blotch on the upper surface is the characteristic symptom of fruit blotch of watermelon, a bacterial disease. The first symptoms of the disease appear as water-soaked areas on the fruit surface that rapidly expand to cover a larger area of the melon.  Click image for an larger view, more information

Photographs and / or images are said to be worth a thousand words. Indeed, from time to time, we all need and use images to help us make a point or explain a detail more clearly. This is especially so in plant pathology where diseases and plants are as diverse as all the world around us is and can be.

The Office of International Programs of the American Phytopathological Society has brought an outstanding resource of diseases and plants related to tropical agriculture by an eminent specialist in the area to our attention.

Dr. H. David Thurston, professor emeritus at Cornell University, has compiled a CD-ROM containing images of plant diseases and pests, tropical agriculture, tropical crops, traditional agriculture and sustainable agricultural development.

The CD is described and previewed at a Cornell University website: www.tropag-fieldtrip.cornell.edu/
docthurston/smokinhome.html. The CD is described as an impressive collection of more than 2500 images useful for those who teach or would otherwise need very high quality images in these areas. Images of plants include those of banana, cassava, coffee, corn, flowers, fruits, hibiscus, plantain, potato, sorghum and spices. The CD also contains images of the geography of several countries in South America. The images are indexed and available for educational use at the website.