158 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Feb. 



exception. In this case the plants, on May 10th, were recorded 

 as being somewhat less upright than those in the other cultures. 

 The plants thus deviating were closely studied and their progeny 

 carefully compared from year to year with the progeny of the 

 original pure line. In 1911, it was found that the aberrant type 

 was much more susceptible to cold than was the original mother 

 line. Other evident differences between the two showed con- 

 clusively that a new form had arisen. Moreover, the new form 

 showed its own modification curve, and therefore cannot be 

 regarded as a modification of the original line. After much 

 discussion as to an explanation of the origin of this new form 

 Kiessling finally concludes the new type is an example of DeVries 

 mutations. 



J. R. F. 



NOTES ON THE APOTHECIAL STAGE OF SCLEROTINIA 

 CINEREA IN ONTARIO. 



By J. E. Howitt, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



This fungus was known as Monilia fructigena, Pcrs., until 

 placed in the genus Sclerotinia by Woronin in 1899. Recent 

 investigations show that the American Brown Rot fungus of 

 stone fruits is not identical with Sclerotinia fructigena occurring 

 in Europe on pome fruits. It agrees more clearly with Sclero- 

 tinia cinerea, and should be referred to that species. In the 

 spring of 1902, Norton found the apothecial stage in abundance 

 in peach and plum orchards in Maryland. In 1906, this stage 

 was reported as being very common in the United States through- 

 out the west. Up to the present time, however, pathologists 

 have not regarded the apothecial stage of importance in the 

 propogation of the fungus. Conidia adherent to bark or bud 

 scalesand the mycelium of the mummied fruits or blighted twigs 

 have been considered to be the chief sources of infection. While 

 these are undoubtedly important sources of infection, observa- 

 tions made by the writer during the spring of 1912 point to the 

 possibility that in wet seasons the apothecial stage may be of 

 primary importance in the dissemination of the fungus and the 

 chief source of blossom infection. 



In the course of some studies on the life-history of Sclerotinia 

 < inerea a careful watch was kept for the appearance of the 

 apothecial stage. On May 25th, 1912, Mr. W. A. McCubbin, my 

 colleague in this work, found numerous apothccia under wild 

 plum trees (J 'run us americana) at Cedar Mills, Ontario. The 

 soil in this locality is a sandy loam. Apothecia were produced 

 from old plums buried from one to two inches in the sand and 



