534 Report op the Mycologist of the 



VI. OBSERVATIONS ON EXOBASIDIUM PECKII, HALS., 

 AND RAMULARIA CYLINDKIOPSIS, PK., IN HERB. 



ExobasdiiLin is a genus of parasitic fungi wliicli for tlie most })art 

 attack plants belonging to the Heath Family, Ericaceae^ pro- 

 ducing conspicuous enlargements of the branches, leaves or in- 

 florescence. The only species of economic importance is Exobasi- 

 dium Vaccinii which deforms cranberry plants. This species 

 occurs on several other plants of the same family. A few cranber- 

 ries are grown in the vicinity of Riverhead and Baiting Hollow, 

 Long Island, N. Y., where 1 have sought for E. Vaccinii the past 

 season but failed to find it. 



June 15, 1895, while collecting on Hempstead Plains near West- 

 bury Station, N. Y., 1 observed that Andromeda Mariana, the 

 " stagger-bush " or " calf-kill," which is very abundant in this 

 region, was severely attacked by a fungus which distorted the leaves 

 and inflorescence. On the leaves it produced circular, discolored 

 areas which w^ere convex above and concave beneath. The spots 

 were frequently as much as three-fourths of an inch in diameter, 

 yellowish-brown above and powdery-white beneath. The flowers, 

 which in t]ie normal condition are bell-shaped and nodding, were 

 perfectly upi'ight and showed a decided tendency to split into 

 divisions like a polypetalous flower. The flowers were also much 

 enlarged. I collected a quantity of the fungus and sent some to 

 Prof. Peck who identifled it as Exohasidium Peckii, Hals., flrst 

 reported 1 in 1893 from New Jersey by Dr. Ilalsted. The chief inter- 

 est which attaches to these observations is the discovery that the 

 fungus attacks the leaves as well as the inflorescence. Dr. Ilal- 

 sted says: ^ " This species is remarkable in being confined almost 

 entirely to the inflorescence." From my observations it appears to 

 be as abundant on the leaves as on the inflorescence. 



( )n June 29 while collecting more of the Exohasidium Pechii, I 

 noticed another fungus on Andromeda Mariana. It resembled the 

 Esobasidium in giving the under surface of the leaf a white, pow- 

 dery appearance, but dift'ered from it in not producing any distortion 

 of the leaf. It generally appeared at the base of a leaf, gradually 



1. Nhw Jersey Agr'l Exp. Station Report for 1893, p. 434. Also, Proc. Am. Asso. Adv. of 

 •Science, 1893. 

 2 I. c. 



