138 Journal of Mycology [Vol. 13 



lentus is said to have a squamulose pileus and a thin and short 

 stipe. This description is not appHcable to my specimens. 

 Twelve sporophores in different stages of development were col- 

 lected and none of them appear squamulose. The pileus of an 

 old weathered specimen of P. lentus may become smooth just 

 as we find it to be the case in old specimens of P. polyporus and 

 P. arcularius. h\\ my specimens both old and young have a 

 smooth pileus. . 



The following table may aid in distinguishmg these related 



species : 



Tubes regular or nearly so, i- 



Tubes irregular or hexagonal, 2. 



I. Pileus villose, usuallv dark colored, P. polyporus. 



1. Pileus glabrous, ochfaceous, stipe black at base, P. elegans. 



2. Pileus squamulose, grayish fuscous, pores large, 



P. arcularius. 

 2. Pileus squamulose, ochraceous-pallid, pores large, P. lentus. 

 2. Pileus glabrous or nearlv so, tan-colored or isabelline, 



pores smaller, ' P- pennsylvanicus. 



Dr. W. A. Murrill kindly compared some of my specimens 

 with material in the Herbarium of the New York Botanical 

 Garden. 



Wilkinsburg, Pa. 



A STUDY OF THE LEAF-TIP BLIGHT OF DRACyCNA 



FRAGRANS. 



JOHN L. SHELDON. 



Last winter, several diseased plants of Dracaena fragrans 

 were noticed in the greenhouses of the West Virginia Experiment 

 Station. Most of the lower leaves were dead and the middle 

 ones were dead at the tips. There were small black specks scat- 

 tered through the dead portions of the leaves, for the most part 

 on the upper side. A microscopical examination showed that [ 

 the leaves had probablv been killed by a species of Gheosporium. \ 



After consulting 'the pathological literature in the station; 

 library, I decided that Dr. HalstecP had found the same disease 

 some years before and had called it a "leaf-tip blight." He says 

 in his description of it, "The fungus which was destroying the j 



' Halsted B D. Leaf-tip blia^lit of Dracaena fragrans. Rept. N. J. I 

 Agr. Exp. Sta. 14:413. 1893. 



