250 GRASSES OF IOWA. 



This bunt is widely distributed in Europe and America. In 

 the United States it is common in Wisconsin, where the writer 

 found it in considerable quantity in the vicinity of La Crosse. 

 It is reported by Trelea-;e.* It is common in Indiana, accord- 

 ing to Arthur, f It is likewise common in Ohio, according to 

 Hickman,;): and in Nebraska, according to Webber. § Halsted|| 

 reports it as injurious to wheat in New Jersey. Kellerman 

 and Swingle* have studied, more than other persons in this 

 country, its nature and distribution in Kansas and the country 

 at large. Swingle has also published several important papers 

 on the subject. 



It is not common in Iowa, though it has been found several 

 times by the writer on the college grounds sic ce 1891, and it 

 has been found abundantly in the wheat screenings of some of 

 our local mills. 



General characters — lb is not always an easy matter to tell 

 the presence of this smut by the character of the plant, 

 although the heads are darker green, appearing as though 

 stimulated by an extra amount of fertilizer When the grain is 

 ripening the diseased plants are recognized, the smutted 

 heads having a paler color instead of the characteristic golden 

 color of good wheat. The chaff is more spreading and the 

 kernels are greatly swollen. One cannot be deceived by this 

 disease when the kernels are crushed, for a very disagreeable 

 odor is given off. According t j Swingle, a whole bin of wheat 

 maybe charge! with it. It is said by people vs'ho have fol- 

 lowed the threshing machine that this odor is very pronounced 

 where the disease is serious. I have myself noticed the bad 

 o lor in passing along the side of a field in western Wisconsin 

 where the fungus was abundant. 



Microscopic characters. — The spores of this fungus are nearly 

 round or somewhat elliptical, smooth, 15 22 x 15-20" in diam- 

 eter. Under favorable conditions of heat and moisture tbe 

 spores germinate in the course of a few days, by producing a 

 promycelium. This tube produces, in the presence of oxygen, 



♦Parasitic Fungi of Wisconsin. 35 



tBuU. Ind. Agrl. Exp. Sta. 28. 



.iSull. Ohio Agrl. Exp. Sta II. 3: 205, 



SBull. Neb. Agr), Exp. Sta. 11: 70. 



II Rusts, smuts, ergots and rots. Separate from Rep. New Jersey State Board of 

 Agrl. 1889, 



•:Bu11. Kansas Agrl. Exp. Sta. 12: 1890. 



The grain snauts, their causes and prevention, Yearbool< U, S. Dept. Agrl. 1894; 

 409. 



The grain smuts. U.S. Dept. Agrl. Farmers' Bulletin. 75: 6. 



