THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 105 



same relation to those that are normally red-barked that yellow 

 berries do to red ones. The difference in color seems due 

 principally to a diminution of anthocyan in the less deeply color- 

 ed specimens. The yellow form of our familiar red osier is 

 Cornus stolonifera lutea. The equally well-known winter- 

 berry which affects habitats similar to that of the red osier has 

 a form known as Ilex vcrticillata lutea. In the latter case, 

 however, the term lutea refers to the color of the fruit which is 

 yellow instead of red. Just as one may predict the finding of 

 albino forms of all colored fruits, so one is warranted in ex- 

 pecting yellow forms of red or black fruits and possibly melan- 

 itic or black forms of those normally red or yellow. 



A Paint Eating Fungus. — Everywhere the fungi are busy 

 tearing apart the compounds formed by other organisms. In 

 sugary solutions the yeasts break up the sugar into carbon 

 dioxid and alcohol and we call it fermentation ; in milk, bac- 

 teria make lacitc acid of the milk sugar and we call it souring ; 

 in many food products the striicture is broken down by various 

 fungi and we call it decay. The mouldering log in the forest, 

 the rotting fruit under the trees, the leaves, straw and other 

 refuse plowed under by the farmer — all are slowly turned 

 back by fungi into the elements from which they were formed. 

 Despite the wide range of substances upon which fungi feed, 

 we would scarcely consider paint as a likely substance for their 

 uses, but a recent Kew Bulletin gives a colored plate of a 

 fungus that delights in fresh white paint in which it forms rosy 

 dots and blotches. It is most common in hot-houses where the 

 warmth and moisture conduces to its growth. In a single 

 range of houses, it is said to have recently caused a loss of 

 nearly a thousand dollars by ruining the paint. This strange 

 fungus is named Phoma pigmentivora. It is not alone, how- 

 ever in its predilection for unusual food substances. The com- 

 mon blue mold often fancies writing ink and sometimes pene- 



