197 





K. Kir 



narrower, and the yellow blotch at the throat of the flower is 



bordered on both sides with purple. Saxifraga Brunoniana is a 



pretty and curious species from the Himalaya, where it ranges 



from Sikkim to Kashmir at elevations of 9,0<>0 to 13,000 feet. It 



has long slender stolons, which, with the stems, are bright crimson, 



and small yellow flowers. The Kew plants were raised from 



seeds received from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, in 1903. 



Jih-eum inopinatum is a new species belonging to the section 



Deserticoh i se , in which the stems are leafless, or nearly so, and the 



leaves firm. It is a small-growing plant, with grey-green leaves, 



and a bright red or crimson inflorescence. Seeds were presented 



to Kew in 1905 by the Director of the Botanical Survey of India, 



having been collected at Gyantse in Tibet by Capt. H. J. Walton 



in 1904, during the Tibet Mission. The Olearia is a native of 



Australia and Tasmania, and resembles some of the species of 



Aster and Felicia. The plant figured was raised from seeds 



received in 1899 from Sergt. Goady, R.E., of Albany, Western 

 Australia. 



The South African Locust Fungus.-During the years 1895-96 

 locusts killed by a fungus were collected in Natal. The fungus 

 was determined to be Entomophthora Grylli, Fres., a parasite 

 previously known to be destructive to grasshoppers. In the hope 

 of reducing the devastating hordes of locusts abounding in South 

 Africa, attempts at its cultivation were made at the Grahamstown 

 Bacteriological Institute, from material obtained from the infected 

 Natal locusts. Unfortunately this attempt did not prove a success, 

 as Entomophthora Grylli, Fres., was almost invariably absent from 

 the cultures, and when present was dead as would be expected, 

 considering the fact that this fungus can only grow in the body of 

 a living insect. The material cultivated and distributed in a 

 wholesale manner consisted of two distinct species of fungi, 

 lihizopus nigricans, Ehr., being alone present in the tubes of 

 material examined by Professor McAlpine in Melbourne, whereas 

 the material submitted to Kew for examination proved to be a 

 pure culture of a fungus not previously described, and was called 

 Mucor exitiosus, Mass. (Kew Bulletin, 1901, p. 91). 



Material received by Mr. Hart, in Trinidad, consisted mainly of 



Mucor exitiosus, along with a sprinkling of dead Entomophthora 

 Grylli. 



On the whole, Mucor exitiosus was the most constant and abun- 

 dant fungus present in the cultures. 



Rhizopus nigricans is a widely distributed species, but has no 

 injurious action on living insects. 



Mucor exitiosus has not been proved to attack either grass- 

 hoppers or locusts, in fact all evidence forthcoming is decidedly 

 opposed to this view. Soon after the " locust fungus " preparation 

 was issued, it was subjected to a thorough examination at the 

 Colorado Experiment Station, United States, and as the result of 



