Ftiiigtii^ of LolliLim. 



257 



The follo-\ving I'esults show tliat Loliiim lierenne is just as strik- 

 ing' an example of a t'ungus-iontainiiig frviit as Jj>hiiiii temiihti- 

 hnn, and that the number of eirliei- grains devoid of tlie fungus 

 is remarkahly small. In fact, they suggest that prQbably all grains 

 ■of Darnel and, Englisli rye grass contain this second organism, and 

 failure to discern it in some grains is due to the fact tliat it is 

 present in such minute quantities in the mature grain that it needs 

 .special care and staining to bring the hyphae out, or, as this paper 

 proceeds, a second alternative will be considered (p. 293). 



Loll Kill tciniil( iifii/n, L. 



'I'otal 



169 



169 



Locality 



Victoria 

 Cowra, N.S.W. 

 New Zealand 

 South Africa 

 Scotland 

 Ireland 



Total 



Lolium pereune, L. 



115 



115 



Fung. abs. 



Although former workers have recorded the presence of the fungus 

 in Lolium 'perenne, previously it has been thought to be very sj^ar- 

 ingly distributed in this species. The above results show that this is 

 not actually so. It has also been suggested that the toxicity of Darnel 

 is due to its fungal component, but since English' rye grass shows a 

 regularly occurring hyj^hal layer as well as Darnel, this suggestion 



3. The " seeds " of this Cambridge sample were much smaller than those 

 of any of the Australian samples. Frequently also on hand-sectioning no 

 liyphal layer was evident, but several of the grains were microtomed, and 

 further examination then showed distinct hyphae in the scutellum and 

 embryo. Possibly the plants yielding the grain were grown under condi- 

 tions which did not favour the luxuriant development of the fungus, so that 

 the absence of the extra-cellular hyphal layer was more common in this 

 sample than is usually the case. Only these grains which were actually 

 microtomed are included in the above list. 



