274 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [OcToBER 
that the ripe spores, with the upper end of the sterigmata, break off 
from the full grown sterigmata. There seems to be sufficient reason, 
therefore, for establishing the genus Neovossia. 
Neovossia Iowensis Hume and Hodson, n. sp.— Spore mass filling 
the ovary, black; spores globose, subglobose, or ovate, brownish-black, 
opaque, 16 X 20 to 24X28 p, 
enclosed in a hyaline capsule; 
appendage slender, hyaline, 
two or three times the length 
of the spore ; epispore appar- 
ently pitted. 
A careful comparison with 
specimen no. 1216 of von 
Thiimen’s AMycotheca univer- 
salis leads to the belief that the 
Iowa specimens are specifi 
Fic. 1.—NEovossiA IowENsIs ; a, spike- cally distinct. The spores 
let of Phragmites communis; 6, affected ovary ; differ from those of Neovossia 
ste Moliniae (Thiim.) Korn. in 
being darker in color, broader and shorter, and generally blunter at 
the end opposite the appendage. The markings of the spore, also, 
are somewhat coarser. Ten spores of von Thiimen’s specimen, selected 
at random, gave an average of 27.7X17p, while the spores take? 
from the material collected at Colo, Iowa, gave 24.8X18.9 B— 
E. R. Hopson, Ames, Jowa. 
NOTE ON THE ORIGIN OF TANNIN IN GALLS. 
THE origin of the different plant constituents is as much a mystery 
as their functions, and neither of these questions can be settled of 
more observations have been made. In considering the Bone” 
tannin in galls the writer limits his observations for the present !0 © 
examinations of the common “ink-ball’’ or “ink-gall,” — Te : 
% 
duced on Quercus coccinea Wang., probably by Cynips aciculata 
The same kind of gall is produced on other oaks, as Mr. ee ol : 
the Biltmore Herbarium, has sent me specimens which were Pr 
on Quercus imbricaria Michx. 
ee 
*Presented at the New York Meeting of the American Association : 
Advancement of Science, June 1900. 
