This relationship reflects the effects of stipule disease development on pod disease development at the same node, implying that infected stipules are an important source of inoculum for pods. Pielaat et al. (2002) obtained similar results in a study showing that light leaf spot (Pyrenopeziza brassicae) progression on oilseed rape pods depended on disease distribution on the leaves, as most of the infectious units reaching the pods were transferred by splashing from the leaves. Moreover, the present study showed that there was little difference in audpc on stipules between cultivars if this variable was considered as a function of node position. Conversely, if audpc was considered as a function of stipule height up the stem, large differences in vertical disease distribution were observed between cultivars. As the cultivars considered had similar levels of susceptibility to disease, it was also possible that node infection was synchronized with canopy development. Growth rates of the four cultivars were measured during the two cropping seasons.