rKi;sii)i:\Ti.\i. \iiiiKi;ss--si:( i kix < . 105 



I*. Sy(l(»\\-, ot llcrliii, now l)t.'gaii a sci'ics of |)a|)cr> en Smitli 

 African fungi. In 1899 he dcall with collections made by 

 Schlechter and Medley Wood. The latter'.s collection was 

 <lescril)ed under " l^^ingi Natalenses."" ."^oine 41 funj^i were deter- 

 mined. .Vmongst the.se the new genus W'oodicUa was described, 

 and it was a fitting and lia])])y C()m])liment to the l)otanist, whose 

 active days for collecting were now ])ast. 



Il'oodiclla nalalciisis Sacc. and .Syd., l)elongs to the Disco- 

 iiiycclcs. and occurs ou leaves oj I'n-i'ctla obo-rala, near Durban. 



Tilt: L)i-:\i-:l()I'ajki\t OF M^^■oI,o(;^ i.\ Soi rii .Ai-kk a. 



In the year 1905 the Transvaal (Government made special 

 ])rovisi()n for the investigation of ])lant diseases by the establish- 

 ment of a post of Mycologist in the Department of .\gricullure. 

 To this I had the honour of being a])pointed. 



Up to this time no attemjjt had been made to study the life- 

 history and development of fungi in the country; they had simply 

 been collected, and in most cases sent to Euroj^' for determination 

 and classification. 



Three mycological herbaria were in existence, two of which 

 Mac( )wan was ])ractically res])onsible for: one at the Ciovern- 

 ment Herbarium, Capetown, and the other at the .Mbruiy 

 Museum, (ji-ahamstown. The majority of specimens in both 

 these herbaria were collected by MacOwan, and the greater ])or- 

 tion of them belonged to the Hymenomycetes. 



The third herbarium was in Natal, at Durban, and was made 

 by Medley Wood. 



The number of fungi recorded from ."^outh .Africa \\\) to 

 this time (1905) amounted to 765 s])ecies. 



There was no mycological herbarium in the Transvaal in 

 those days, and with the exception of a few fungi which had been 

 collected by Schlechter on his botanical tours through the country, 

 ])ractically nothing was known of its fungus flora. 



In view of our complete ignorance of the life-histories of 

 the fungi on cultivated cro])s in the country, it was therefore 

 deemed highly importrmt that attention should also be paid to 

 the fungi ])revalent on the indigenous plants, and with this end 

 in view a mvccdogical herbarium was begun in Pretoria in con- 

 nection with the work. 



With the advent of Union in 191 1 a Division of I'lant 1 'at 1 10- 

 logy and Mycology was established in the Dei)artment of Agri- 

 culture, for the pur])ose of investigating and controlling plant 

 diseases throughout the Union. 



Largely owing to the loyal co-o])eration and assistance of 

 my colleagues. Dr. Ethel I^oidge, Dr. P. A. van der I'ijl. Miss 

 Rottomley, B.A., and Mr. P. J. P'ienaar, a Herbarium, consisting 

 of over 4.400 species of South African ftmgi has been formed. 

 Amongst the many enthusiastic collectors who have also assisted 

 very materiallv in this work, J must i7iention Miss .Alice Pegler, 



