74 



FUNGI IMPERFECT! 



'North American Species of Cylindrosporium. Jour. 



Mycol. I : 126-128. 1885. 



Additions to Cercospora, Gloeosporium and Cylin- 

 drosporium. Jour. Mycol. 3: 13-22. 1887. 



Stoneman. A comparative Study of the Development of some 

 Anthracnoses. Bot. Gaz 26: 6()-\2o, pi. y-iS. 1898. 



Order 3. MONILIALES. 



The largest order of the fungi imperfecti is the group of fungi 

 often known as the Hyphomycetes, and called ' 'Hyphos" for short. 

 In this group a large number of forms have been placed that 

 have later been found to represent merely the conidial stage of 

 ascomycetous fungi. Among these is the genus Oidiiun which 

 contains mildews that have developed only a conidial reproduc- 

 tion. As some of the members of these various form-genera are 

 not yet identified with the ascomycetous condition, it is necessary 

 to retain them as a matter of convenience, although we know that 

 they cannot rank as genera in any strict biological sense. There 

 are also numerous forms that are only partially known and these 

 have been placed in this group temporarily as a matter of con- 

 venience. In fact the order has been a convenient catch-all for 

 nondescript fungi of all sorts, so that the order has become a sort 

 of by-word among mycologists. But besides these really im- 

 perfect forms there are a large number that probably represent 

 forms that are unconnected with any other stage of growth and 

 are thus in themselves perfect fungi ; they are simply in bad 

 company. By far the greater part of the order are saprophytic 

 but a considerable number are parasitic ; among the latter is the 

 genus Cercospora in which over 450 species have been described, 

 a large part from the United States. Here also belongs the smut 

 of Sporobohis Indicus which has taken the name of smut grass in 

 the South from the almost universal prevalence of the fungus."^ 



A few fungi injurious to cultivated plants are found to be due to 

 species of this order and among them some of the most virulent of 

 their kind. Among these are the various leaf-blights due to 

 species of Cercospora, Ramularia, Macrosporiiiin and Hehnintho- 



*This smut must not be confused with the ordinary smuts of grain and 

 grasses which are members of the order Ustilaginales. 



