Fungi found on Farm Seeds. By A. Lorrain Smith. 615 



composed of loose muck-branched yellowish hyphas, which surround 

 the fertile filaments. When mature, the walls of the .small globose 

 asci disappear, but the minute spores retain for a time the form of the 

 a^cus. The fungus was attached loosely to the spines of the carrot 

 seed, and seemeil to have little organic connection with it ; in this re- 

 sembling the Ohsetomiums, which often grow on the awns of the 

 grasses. Many of the smaller fungi grow with very little nutrition ; 

 those 1 have been watching often spread from the seeds to the 

 germinating saucer, and grow vigorously on the porcelain, apparently 

 on nothing, though doubtless some seed had lain on the spot and left 

 some of its substance behind. 



The Hyphomycetes bulk very largely in this flora of seed-fungi. 

 The two ubiquitous species Aspergillus glaucus Link, and Penicil- 

 lium glaucum Link, appear continually. Gnphalosporium Acremo- 

 riium Corda, Sporotriehum laxum Nees, and Acremouium alternatum 

 Link, are not infrequent. These ah grow on decaying vegetation, 

 and are very common moulds. Trichoderma viride Pers., the 

 conidial form of Hypocrea rufd, I have found several times, and 

 have cultivated it on a gelatin slide ; there was a beautiful growth in 

 three days of upright branching colourless conidiophores bearing the 

 groups of bright green spores at the tips of the branches. A form of 

 iSepedonium, plate XIII. fig. 1, entirely colourless, formed a white tuft 

 on a grass seed. The spores, which arc borne at the tips of delicate 

 hyphfe, are globose and rather large, measuring about 18-20 yu, in 

 diameter. They have a thick epispore, and are warted when mature. 

 It agrees with the characters given of the species S. xylogenuni Sacc, 

 which has been found in Italy growing on wood. I have also to 

 record in the Mucedinere a specimen of Botrijiis vera Fr., distinguished 

 from other members of the genus by the lax branching of the sporo- 

 phores. It grew on turnip seed. 



Among the Dematiese, Maerosporium commune Eabenh., the 

 conidial form of Pleospora herbarum, occurs most frequently. 

 Hdminthosporium gramineum Eabenh. I have detected once on a 

 grass seed. It is a parasite of cereals, destroying the leaves and so 

 weakening the plant and injuring the grain. Some barley affected 

 by it was sent into the laboratory during the summer of 1000. I 

 have one record of Staehybotrys altemans Bonord. It is a fairly 

 common mould, and grows by preference on dump blotting-paper. 

 Stysanus stemonib'S Corda, one of the Stilbea?, by no means a rare 

 fungus, has occurred several times on grass seeds. 



Fusarium roseum Link, which formed its delicate rose-tinted 

 cushions on clover seed, is a member of the Tubercularira). In a 

 culture I made it grew in a very straggling fashion, and budded off a 

 succession of spores from the tips of the branches^ It has been 

 recorded on decaying leaves and stems. Another species, F. commu- 

 tatum Sacc. (plate XIII. fig. "2). is new to this country ; it falls under 

 Saccardo's group " sporodochia laxa, effusa, byssina." On clover 



2 t 2 



