A Disease of Currant Canes. 27 



special relation existing between these fungi and the currant, Dr. M. C. 

 Cooke wrote for the Gardiner's Chronicle of Feb. 28, 1871, a short paper 

 entitled *' A Currant Twig and Something on it. " Here were described in a 

 popular way the pink cushions of Tubercularia^ the mycelium, and the con- 

 nection of this form with the globular, compound heads of the perfect stage 

 Nedria cinnabar ifia. The plant described in this paper was found on a dead 

 currant branch pulled out of a brush pile. 



Its Occurrence as a Parasite, 



Most of the writers treating of Nectria cin7iabarina have spoken of it in a 

 general way, as a saprophyte growing on dead or decaying woody plants. 

 It has long been known, however, that both the Tubercularia and Nectria 

 may thrive upon living plants in a truly parasitic manner. In Germany this 

 condition seems to be not uncommon. As early as 1880, Dr. H. Mayr* 

 studied the fungus as it occurred on living horsechestnut, maple(rafr(?r />/«/'««- 

 oides), and linden, besides noting it upon elm, Spircea and Primus. In the 

 case of the maple the spores germinated upon the cut end of a branch of a 

 young tree, sometime during the year 1880. The mycelium spread to the main 

 stem killing a portion of it. Here the first tubercles appeared, probably 

 in the fall of the same year. During 1881, the new wood was seized upon 

 and killed, so that in the autumn of the same year the leaves withered and 

 died. At this time perithecia appeared on the tubercles of the previous fall. 

 The same writer also studied the development of the fungus, describing 

 and figuring the germination of the spores, and the conidial and perithe- 

 cial forms. In 1893 and 1894, Wehmer studied some peculiar devel- 

 opments of Nectria cinnabarina on linden, = Carpi?tus,'^ a.nd.Jtiglans regia."^ J. 

 Behrens,'* also, found the fungus parasitic on Abies balsainea. In the sum- 

 mer of 1896, Mr. B. M. Duggar, of the staff of this Station found the same 

 fungus growing in a truly parasitic manner on a pear tree at Fayetteville, 

 Onondaga County, N. Y. 



The first mention of Nectria as a parasite of currants seems to be that 

 of Dr. Halsted, who speaks of it as follows :5 "In the currant regions of the 

 state, particularly around Hilton and Irvington, there has been complaint 



of a blight affecting the canes of the currant An affected 



plant may often be detected by the wilted foliage and premature coloration 

 of the fruit. In some instances only a single cane in the bush may be at- 

 tacked, while in the worst specimens the whole shrub is dead, except the 

 fresh sprouts which may have arisen from the base of the plant. In early 



I Ueber den Parasitismus von Nectria cinnabarina. Unters. a. d. forst-botanischen Insti- 

 tut zu Miinchen 3 : 1-16, 1883. 

 2Zum Parasitismus von Nectria cinnabarina. Zeitschrift f. Pflanzenkrankheiten. 



1894 : 74. 



sKinige weitere Beitrage zum Parasitismus von Nect. cinnabarina. Id. 1895 : 268-276 

 PI, V. 

 4;E)in bemerk. Vorkommen v. Nectria cinnabarina, und verbreit weiss.d. Pilze. Id 



1895 : 193-198. 



SNew Jersey Ag. Exp. Station, Report for 1894, : 327. 



