PRKSIDK.XTIAI. ADDRKSS SKCTION C. I O,^ 



years iS8^^ lo 18S9. t'nc details of which iiia\- ije found bv con- 

 sulting the bibliography quoted at the end of this address. Two 

 of these fungi, however, deserve mention here, viz., Schuhcria 

 iinthoii'aaiii Cke. and Mass., a delicious mushroom commonh 

 known by the natives as '' Umkowaan." This plant is unique 

 amongst the fungi of its class, in that about two-thirds of the 

 long stem is embedded in the groimd. 



The other fungus, which was first named C\iiiif>hcllia afri- 

 caria Cke. and Mass. — a member of the Polyporacc(C~\s no\\ 

 referred to the genus Rodi^'aya Syd., as the former generic name 

 had already been applied to a phanerogamic plant belonging to 

 the Scrophulariacccc. 



( )nly two species of Rodivaya are known at the |)resent time, 

 viz., R. iiifiindibiilifonnis, from Australia, and R. africona., 

 from the Botanic Gardens, Durban. 



I must not overlook a short but admirable paper which ap- 

 l)eared at this time ( 1883) by (k-orge Murray (66) on Brooiueia 

 cotigregaia. Murray accurately described the mode of growth of 

 this interesting fungtis, and drew attention to the presence of the 

 outer peridium. which had not been remarked upon by previous 

 mycologists. I have personally been able to verify Murray's 

 observations and conclusions from my own study of liA-ing speci- 

 mens in the neighbourhood of Pretoria. 



MacOwan (54) at this time ( 1883) also jniblished a short 

 note on Broomeia congregata. in reply to Mm^ray's article. Mac- 

 Owan confirms Murray's vie\\' about the outer peridiimi, and 

 points out that if Kalchbrenner and himself had been able to 

 carry out their original plan of publishing a full account of the 

 fungi collected by himself at the Cape, there never would have 

 been any doubt about the })resence of an outer ])eriditun. 



Soon after this ( 18S4) we find a microscopic fungus in Xatal 

 attracting not onl)- the attention of the mere botanical collector, 

 but ciiusing i)anic and ruin amongst a considerable portion of the 

 community. I refer to Ilcniilcia z'astatri.v Berk, and Br., the 

 causal organism of " leaf disease "' in coffee, which broke out in 

 Lower Umzimkulu in 1884. In a very short time it had practi- 

 cally destroyed a promising and flourishing industry. 



The history of this disease is of interest. It appeared in 

 Ceylon in 187 1. and by 1879 had ruined the industry. It was 

 observed in Natal in 1884, in Ck-rman East Africa in 1894. in 

 British East Africa in 1904. 



Heinilcia vasiatrix is found on the indigenous coffees of 

 Tropical Africa, and it now seems highly probable that the dis- 

 ease from Africa was introduced into Ceylon. 



In 1884, George Winter, the German mycologist, published 

 in " Hedwagia " some notes on Rabenhorst's Century XXXI and 

 XXXII of European and extra European fungi, and mentioned 

 those of interest wdiich had been received from MacOwan at 

 the Ca])e. The new species recorded included DidymcUa iiiacitli- 

 foniiis W'int. on Protea grand! flora; .Incrs-waldia disci foniiis 



