﻿331 Halsted : Mvcological Note-. 



as 



The specks upon examination were found to be filled with 

 spores, and, therefore, the dark somewhat oval circular dots were 

 of fungous origin. It was also observed that the clean white wood- 

 work of the greenhouse was also spotted in the same manner 

 the plants. 



The fungus in question is Pilobohts crystailinus Tode., which is 

 one of the Mucorini that had grown upon the horse manure used 

 liberally in the bed and covered the surface of the soil under the 

 rose bushes. This fungus produces its spores in black sporangia 

 that are at maturity thrown to a considerable distance by the en- 

 larged portion below the sporangium filled with liquid suddenly 

 collapsing as the spore case leaves the tip of the filament. In this 

 manner in the greenhouse in question the sporangia have been 

 thrown upward to the roof, ten feet above the bed of manure, and 

 the glass was spotted with the adhering spore specks. 



Along one side of the rose bed is a glass partition wall and upon 

 this was a record of the distance to which a majority of the spor- 

 angia may be thrown. Between two and three feet seemed to be 

 the average distance or range of the mycological mortars in this 

 microscopic bombardment. 



It is* scarcely necessary to state that the gardener's mind was 

 put at ease when he determined the cause of the disfigurement of 

 his rose and other neighboring plants. 



Rust of the Safflower. -During August, 1895, while spending 

 a few days at Cottage City, Massachusetts, the writer's attention 

 was attracted to a row of safflower ( Carthamus tine tortus) grow- 

 ing in the quaint kitchen garden of a humble family of foreigners 

 probably Russians. The safflower plants, sometimes called false 

 saffron, were probably grown both for their curious spinose orange 

 heads of flowers and the dye that is contained therein. But it wa 

 the exceedingly distressing condition of the plants as a whole that 

 made me look a second time over the extemporized garden fence 

 of lath and various sticks. This led to a call at the house for the 

 privilege of a closer inspection, which I trust was granted ; ho** 

 ever, no intelligible words passed between the owner and the vis- 

 itor to verify the fact. 



In short, the plants were found to be badly infested with a 

 fungus that, upon microscopic examination turns out to & 



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