BRIEFER ARTICLES. 
Synchytrium on Stellaria media. (WITH PLATE XXVIII.)—Since Far- 
low and Seymour’s Provisional Host-Index of the F ungi of the United 
States does not report Synchytrium on any species of Stellaria, it is 
possible that its occurrence upon Sve//aria media Smith, in the vicin- 
ity of Baton Rouge, La., may be of interest to mycologists in this 
country. 
Stellaria media is one of the most common weeds in and around 
Baton Rouge, and as early as the middle of January of the present 
year plants growing in low wet places were attacked by the fungus. 
The presence of the Synchytrium is first indicated to the naked eye 
by the appearance upon the host of blister-like swellings, each of 
which, a little later, shows in its center one or more bright yellow 
spots which, as the fungus matures, change to a reddish brown. The 
diseased areas show marked hypertrophy (figs. 1 and 2), and the cells 
of the host are deprived of their chlorophyll and finally of their en- 
tire protoplasmic contents. The lower internodes of the stem and 
the petioles and midribs of the leaves are favorite areas of attack, but oe 
if damp weather favors the development of the fungus, no aerial part 
of the host escapes, and the disease spreads to leaf-blades, pedicels of 
_ the flowers, calyx leaves, petals and even to stamens and pistils, every- 
where swelling and distorting the tissue, dwarfing the growth and fin- 
ally killing the plant. 
A cross section of the stem where the spots in the pustules os : 
turned reddish brown shows numerous resting-spores occupying caVr Sue 
ties that are apparently much enlarged epidermal cells (figs. 1) 4): 
The normal number of resting-spores in each cavity is one, thou a0 
quite frequently two and even three are found, in which case pres ss 
usually somewhat reduced in size. The upper wall of the epidi od Se 
cell in which the spore forms becomes quite thin and often breaks a 
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shaped granules. Within this outer granular coat 1S 4 thick, be “ 
brown, more compact layer; this has not the homogeneous et ae | 
