A prickly business-Edward Shelton, Henry Tryon and the mysterious pineapple disease

Article


Ryley, Malcolm J. and Drenth, Andre. 2024. "A prickly business-Edward Shelton, Henry Tryon and the mysterious pineapple disease." Historical Records of Australian Science. 35 (2), pp. 130-141. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR23008
Article Title

A prickly business-Edward Shelton, Henry Tryon and the mysterious pineapple disease

ERA Journal ID3482
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsRyley, Malcolm J. and Drenth, Andre
Journal TitleHistorical Records of Australian Science
Journal Citation35 (2), pp. 130-141
Number of Pages12
Year2024
PublisherCSIRO Publishing
Place of PublicationAustralia
ISSN0727-3061
1448-5508
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1071/HR23008
Web Address (URL)https://www.publish.csiro.au/HR/HR23008
AbstractThe earliest record of pineapple plants being grown around Sydney in the British colony of New South Wales was that of Governor King in 1803. However, the climate of a new northern settlement at Moreton Bay (later Brisbane) soon proved to be far more conducive to growing the fruit. Pineapples prospered for over 50 years around Brisbane until a mysterious disease appeared in the late 1890s. In April 1891, Professor Edward Shelton, an American who had been appointed as the Queensland government's first Instructor in Agriculture, was the first scientist to inspect the affected crops and concluded that the disease was caused by a fungus. In the following year, Shelton, Henry Tryon (then assistant curator at the Queensland Museum) and others again inspected the diseased pineapple crops. Tryon described the symptoms in detail as well as spores which were composed of two rounded elements, each having a double contour (chlamydospores). There is no doubt that the disease was caused by the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi that was described decades later. In 1897, Shelton was passionate about agricultural education and was appointed as the first principal of the Gatton Agricultural College, but his disciplining of some students of the college led to his forced resignation just 18 months later. In the early 1890s a serious mystery disease appeared in pineapple plantations around Brisbane, Queensland. The American-born Professor Edward Shelton, Queensland's first instructor in agriculture, Henry Tryon, assistant curator at the Queensland Museum, and others inspected diseased plants and concluded that the disease was caused by a fungus, later identified as the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi. Shelton went on to become the first principal of the Gatton Agricultural College, but was forced to resign after severely disciplining some of the students. Photograph by an unknown person.
Keywordschlamydospores; disease; Edward Shelton; Gatton Agricultural College; Henry Tryon; Phytophthora cinnamom; pineapple; symptoms
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020300499. Crop and pasture production not elsewhere classified
Byline AffiliationsCentre for Crop Health
University of Queensland
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