from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A genus of fungi, typical of the division Melanconieæ, in which the spores are simple, globular-oblong, brownish, oozing out in a dark mass. About 70 widely distributed species are known.
Sorry, no etymologies found.
The butternut is attacked by one serious disease which is in the nature of a blight (melanconium oblongum), since it is transmitted through spores.