No. 1, October, 1920] MORPHOLOGY AND TAXONOMY OF FUNGI, ETC. 29 



sporclla Speg. to Apiocarpclla Syd. ; Kricgeria Bres. to Xenogloea Syd. ; Willia E. Chr. Hansen 

 to Hansenula Syd.; Venturiella Speg. to Ncoventuria Syd.; Chaclopellis Sacc. to Tassia Syd. ; 

 and Arthrobolryum Rostr. to Gonyclla Syd. — fred C. WerfccnJAin. 



207. Thom, Charles, and Margaret B. Church. The identity of Aspergillus oryzae. 

 [Abstract. ] Abets. Bact. 4 : 3. 1920. — Aspergillus oryzae Ahlburg was described as the yellow- 

 green mold used in the sake industry of the Orient. As identified by the description of Weh- 

 mer, it is a species with fairly sharp limits. The Japanese, however, use the same name for 

 the organism or organisms concerned in the fermentation of soy sauce or shoyu and related 

 industries. Our collection includes many hundreds of yellow-green strains belonging to this 

 group, ranging from the culture of A. oryzae distributed by Weiimer to authentic cultures used 

 in the shoyu fermentation and cultures representing A. Jlavus as interpreted by Brefeld. 

 The Japanese workers have clearly used the name A . oryzae in their factories and in their experi- 

 mental work as covering this entire group, although they recognize that the various members 

 of the group are very different in their appearance and physiological activity. Certain com- 

 mon characters link this series into a natural group. All show the same markings of stalk 

 wall and conidial wall. All show the same general arrangement of fruiting parts. All show 

 a particular yellow coloring matter which is more or less supplemented throughout the group 

 with a true green. Pronounced differences are found in colony appearance, in shades of color, 

 in measurements of stalk, vesicle and conidia. Among these the sake organism represents 

 one extreme, with its long stalks, heads with principally simple sterigmata and large conidia; 

 Aspergillus parasiticus of Speare is at the other extreme with short stalks and intense green 

 color. Each strain should be carefully identified either by varietal name or by adequate 

 description before experimental results using it can be properly valued. The name Asper- 

 gillus oryzae unmodified should be reserved for the organism of the sake fermentation. — 

 Members of this group are universally distributed. A. flavus and its allies are consistently 

 found in the soil and widely distributed in foodstuffs, as shown by our collections from Europe, 

 Asia and many places in America. A. oryzae in the strict sense is more limited since we have, 

 only occasionally obtained it from sources other than the Oriental fermentation industries. 

 — [Authors' abst. of paper read before Soc. Amer. Bact.] 



208. Torrend, C. Les polyporacees du Bresil. [The Polyporaceae of Brazil.] Broteria 

 (Ser. Bot.) 18: 23-43. 4 pi. 1920.— A discussion of the Brazilian species of the genus Gando- 

 derma Karst., as limited by C. G. Lloyd, with a key to the species and notes on 17 species and 

 many extra-limital forms. The plates are from photographs, illustrating gross characters 

 only. The forms hemisphaericum, annulatum, and rubellum of G. lucidum are apparently 

 proposed as new. The series is apparently to be continued. — E. B. Chamberlain. 



209. Van der Bijl, P. A. The systematic position of the fungus causing root disease of 

 sugar cane in Natal and Zululand. South African Jour. Sci. 16: 204-206. 1919.— The fungus 

 causing root disease of sugar cane in Natal and Zululand is now definitely referred to John- 

 ston's Himantia stellifera, "the stellate crystal fungus." This fungus also probably occurs 

 on indigenous grasses in South Africa. Whether the true Marasmius sacchari occurs in South 

 Africa must remain undecided until the fructifications are collected. — E. M. Doidge. 



210. Weston, William H., Jr. Philippine downy mildew of maize. Jour. Agric. Res. 

 19: 97-122. PI. A and B (col.) and 16-25. 1920.— See Bot. Absts. 6, Entry 260. 



211. De Wildeman, E. A propos du genre Tetracladium. [The genus Tetracladium.] 

 Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol. Paris 83: 192-194. 1920— The author insists that this is a true 

 mycelial fungus and that the name should not be suppressed and put among the synonyms 

 of Asterothrix. The fungus is widely distributed in northern Europe and is pathogenic, 

 apparently to hyacinth, and other plants. — E. A. Bessey. 



212. Yastjda, Atsushi. Eine neue Art von Pterula. [A new species of Pterula.] Bot. 

 Mag. Tokyo 34: 15-16. 1920.— Describes as new, Pterula fusispora, from Fukoji mountain, 

 Kasei-gori, Prov. Harima, Japan. — Roxana Stinchfield Ferris. 



