l8 9i i , Briefer Articles. 313 



lished I have repeatedly seen this bee visit these two species of plants, 

 and in addition, the following: Pentstemon pubescens, P. hzvigatus, 

 Pontcdcria cor data, Astragalus Canadensis, and Trifolium pra tense. It 

 invariably, so far as my observation goes, slits the lower end of the 

 corolla tube in order to reach the nectary. It is said to be the largest 

 and most bulky of all known bees, the mouth parts being very high ly or- 

 ganized. It appears to disdain to take its food in the usual slow fashion 

 of other insects, but goes directly through the tissues to the nectary. 



I have repeatedly observed the honey bee {Apis mellifica L.) visit all 

 these plants, and it apparently prefers to take the nectar through the 

 slits that have been made by the carpenter bee; but when it does not 

 find a slit already made, it then goes to the mouth of the tube and 

 visits the flower in the usual way, by entering at the mouth of the tube. 



The common humble-bees are frequent visitors to all these, and 

 many other flowers, but I have never seen them take the nectar in any 

 other way than by the mouth of the corolla. Bomb us pennsylvanicus, 

 B. americanorum and Apathus elatus (the latter now thought to be the 

 male of B. americanorum) are the only species which I have taken 

 from flowers, and that have been certainly determined ; but it is rea- 

 sonable to conclude, from the structure of their mouth-parts, that all 

 the members of this genus take nectar in the same way.— Jacob 

 Schneck, Aft. Carmely III. 



A new Ravenelia from Alabama.— In September, T890, and during 

 the autumn of 1891, the writer has collected at Auburn what proved 

 to be an undescribed species of Ravenelia on Cassia nictitans. The 

 species is remarkable for its great abundance on the stems and for the 

 very long, fulvous pedicels of the teleutospores. It is characterized as 

 follows : 



Ravenelia Casshwola Atkinson, n. sp.— Caulicolous or hypophyl- 

 lous. Sori on leaves one mm. or less, rotund or oblong ; on stems 

 oblong, irregular, confluent, sometimes covering space i— 10 cm. or 

 more in length, frequently ambient, rupturing irregularly or longitud- 

 inally. Pseudo-peridium composed of closely cohering, irregu'arly 

 angular, small cells, yellowish brown. Uredospores in mass appearing 

 dirty yellowish white; singly, hyaline or dull yellow to fulvous, oval or 

 rotund, minutely asperulate, 9-13x12-16^. Teleutospores in mass 

 appearing black; singly, fulvous to dark brown; 30-100 /y, convex at 

 free end, depressed where joined to pedicel, small ones rotund, com- 

 posed of from 5-30 cuneate cells, their free ends frequently bearing a 

 single hyaline, short spine; cells 18-23X20-30^; cystoid cells 5-15, ro- 

 tund, hyaline or colored, rigid, 14-18 /*; pedicel fulvous, stout, 



