1895. ] Briefer Articles. riF 
infection, six or seven weeks, coincides quite well with the time that 
elapses between the first appearance of the Caeoma and that of the 
Puccinia out of doors. As these experiments were carefully conducted 
there seems no doubt that these forms are related. Experiments 
producing the Caeoma from the Puceinia would be much more diffi- 
cult, as infection in this case no doubt takes place through the very 
young basal shoots. 
The connecting of these forms brings up an interesting point of no- 
menclature. In the bulletin referred to I accepted Puccinia Peckiana 
Howe as the name of the fungus, while Tranzschel re-named it Puc- 
cinta interstitiale (Schl.) Tranz. ‘The question is merely whether the 
rule of priority shall apply to the very first name given or whether to 
the first name given to the mature form. The Jatter method seems to 
me the much more rational as it does away with needless confusion 
and increase of synonyms. Asa matter of curiosity on this point, I 
submitted the data to five of the best botanists of this country, four 
of whom have favored me with their opinions. All stated that it was 
a mootable question, but one that should be settled. Two were inclined 
to believe that,as now interpreted, priority would be carried to the first 
name given to any stage, while two decided that the priority rule 
Should apply to the first name given to the mature form.—G. P. CLin- 
TON, University of Illinois. 
Some field notes.—While searching for some fungi on U/mus Amer- 
tcana leaves, two were found on a young tree which present a strange 
and interesting departure. The petiole, one-third of an inch above 
where it becomes a midrib, bifurcates so as to make an angle of about 
fifty degrees between the two subdivisions. Each of the subdivisions 
ecomes a midrib to a leaf whose outer edge is normal, and the inner 
€dge is also normal down to about an half or two-thirds of an inch 
above the bifurcation. Here the two leaflets join together, making a 
compound leaf. 
In laboratory pressed specimens of Viburnum acerifolium a super- 
ficial observer will be mystified by apparent petioles that bifurcate 
and at each end of the bifurcations will be found a normal leaf. Care- 
ful observation will prove the apparently bifurcated petiole to be a 
stem with a terminal bud, and in the axil of last year’s fallen leaf. 
The terminal bud is best made out from fruiting specimens. 
In 1889 while botanizing in the mountains near Elliston, Montana, 
I passed a low specimen of Acer glabrum, whose appearance was such 
as to strike one as strange, and yet as Acer g/abrum is the only Acer 
I had found in eight years of Montana work, I passed it by; after 
80lng several rods, its curious, indescribable appearance caused me to 
