REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 25 



North Elba and Lake Pleasant. August and September. 



This northern variety agrees with the typical form in its mode 

 of growth and in its odor, but differs from it in having the pileus 

 more or less zonate and the spines of the hymenium whiter. 



Mnium afElne ciliare C. M. 



Catskill mountains. Mrs E. G. Britton. A fine variety readily 



known by the long ciliae or hairs that adorn the margin of the 



leaf. 



Otidea onotica (Pers.) Fckl. 



Gregarious or cespitose, growing in damp shaded places on de- 

 caying wood and bark. North Elba. September. The base is 

 sometimes whitened by mycelioid filaments. The receptacle is 

 rather tough, but the more tender hymenium is sometimes eaten 

 by insects or their larvae. 



Pilosace eximia Pk. 

 This rare little species is peculiar in having reddish spores. 

 They are .00025 of an inch long, .00016 broad. The color of the 

 spores appears to vary in the different species of this genus. In 

 one they are described as black, in another as purplish brown. In 

 structure the genus agrees with Pluteus of the pink spored series. 

 At present it contains six species, two of which occur in Europe, 

 two in the West Indies, one in Africa and one in the United 

 States. 



Puccinia suaveolens (Pers.) Rostr. 



This parasitic fungus may be classed among the useful species. 

 It attacks the noxious Canada thistle and assists in keeping it in 

 check by preventing it from producing seeds. But it also attacks 

 another plant, Centaur ea cyanus, blue bottle or bache- 

 lor's button, which is often cultivated for ornament. In this case 

 also it prevents the development of the flowers and seeds and it 

 may therefore be classed as an injurious fungus, since the flower 

 is the special part for which the plant is cultivated. This plant 

 escaped from cultivation at Menands and was growing like a 

 weed in waste places. On these wild plants the fungus appeared 

 in its uredo stage in May. Later in the season this was followed 

 by the appearance of the teleutospores, the final stage, on the 



