18 FUNGOID PESTS OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



Britain, and their geographical distribution includes France, Switzerland, 

 Germany, Finland, and Siberia. 



Never likely to cause sufficient trouble to call in the aid of fungicides, 

 better to pick off the diseased leaves if the cups appear. 



Sacc. Syll. vii. 2710 ; Pers. Ic. Pict. iv. t. 23, f. 4 ; Cooke Hdbk. 

 No. 1615 ; Plowr. Brit. Ured. 263. 



PJEONY LEAF-SPOT. 

 Phyllosticta Pceonice (S. & Sp.), PI. I. fig. 11. 



Paeony leaves are subject to several kinds of leaf spot in different 

 countries, but only the above has at present been recorded for Britain. 

 This scarcely deserves to be called a " leaf-spot," since the spots are 

 obsolete, and the rather large perithecia are scattered, like little black dots, 

 over the leaves. 



The conidia are elliptical, with two nuclei (10 x 5 p), and have a 

 slight tinge of olive. 



The greatest harm that the majority of these leaf -spots do to the 

 plants is to disfigure the foliage. In general they may be kept in check 

 by spraying and picking off the infested leaves. 



Sacc. Syll. iii. 200. 



Three other species of Phyllosticta are recorded as producing leaf- 

 spots on Pseony. These are Phyllosticta Moutan and Phyllosticta 

 baldensis in Italy, and Phyllosticta Commonsii in North America. 



Other leaf -spots are produced by species of Septoria, with long thread- 

 like conidia, such as Septoria P&onice in N.-W. Europe, and Septoria 

 macrospora in Italy. Septoria Nartianoffiana is only known in Asiatic 

 Siberia. 



P^ONY BUST. 

 Cronartium Pceonia (Cast.), PI. I. fig. 12. 



A peculiar kind of rust, not very common but occasionally appearing 

 in gardens, on Paaony leaves, chiefly on the under surface, is the above, 

 which has been known for very many years. 



The pustules are small, and collected together on paler spots, but with 

 none of the bright yellow or rusty colour peculiar to most of the plant rusts. 



The uredospores are enclosed in a kind of peridium, or volva, and are 

 either ovate, or elliptical, and spiny (20-30 x 15-30 /u). From the centre 

 of the spore mass arises a compact column composed of the brown teleuto- 

 spores, or final spores, many of which commence to germinate while still 

 attached to the foster plant. The long flexuous columns (2 m. long) give 

 a peculiar appearance to this parasite, making it look rather like a colony 

 of worms or larvae upon the leaf, commonly extending over a consider- 

 able surface. It has very little of the general appearance of a Uredine, and 

 would rather puzzle the inexperienced. 



It is found throughout the greater part of Europe and in Asiatic Siberia. 



No successful experiments recorded, and the presumable secidiospores 

 are unknown. 



Sacc. Syll. vii. 2139 ; Mass. PL Dis. p. 235 ; Cooke M. F., 215 ; 

 Ploicr. Brit. Ured. 254. 



