790 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



The author concludes by stating that those vines in which the leaves 

 touch the surface of the soil are attacked by the parasite first and with the 

 greatest intensity. 



Amblyosporium.* — In describing a new species, Amblyosporium 

 hicollum, parasitic on Lycojperdon gemmatum, M. J. Costantin gives the 

 following as the generic characters of Amblyosporium (Mucedinese) : — 

 (1) The foot is very long, and supports a head formed of conidia, which 

 differentiates itself from the summit towards the base of the filaments that 

 attach themselves to the foot. (2) The capitula are successively of two 

 different colours. (3) It is further characterized by its development on 

 Hymenomycetes. 



Celery-leaf Blight.f —Mr. B. T. Galloway states that this disease, due 

 to the fungus Cercospora Apii Fres., annually destroys about one-half of 

 the celery planted in Columbia. Frequent showers and heavy dews 

 followed by hot sunshine favour the growth of the fungus. It usually 

 appears about July 1st, and on the approach of cool weather, which usually 

 comes on in September, the fungus gradually disappears. When fresh the 

 conidia germinate readily (in three hours) by sending out a delicate 

 colourless thread from each cell. So long as the celery leaves are kept 

 dry but few of the conidia germinate, but if the leaves are frequently 

 moistened, the fungus quickly destroys them. Celery protected from the 

 direct rays of the sun, either by natural means, as planting under trees, or 

 by screens made for the purpose, is rarely attacked by the parasite. 



On Septeuiber 26th, 1886, several healthy celery plants that were 

 growing in the open air were lifted, and planted in the greenhouse. About 

 one week later sowings of the conidia of C. Apii were made upon the leaves 

 of several plants. Fifteen days later, the leaves where the sowings had 

 been made showed pale-green pustules. Owing to the cool weather which 

 came on about the time the pustules made their appearance, the fungus 

 made no further progress, except several spots which showed the brownish 

 hyphfe, but no conidia. The plants upon which no sowings had been made 

 remained healthy. A form of G. Apii is quite common on Pastinaca, but is 

 quite distinct from that on cultivated celery. Mr. Ellis suggests the name 

 Cercospora Pastinacse for the form on Pastinaca. 



Cyphella.| — From a careful examination of the structure and life- 

 history of C. endophila, found on dead branches of Phytolacca dioica in 

 the Neapolitan territory, Dr. 0. Mattirolo separates the genus Gyphella 

 entirely from Cantharellus, with which it had been supposed by Fries to be 

 allied, and places it near to Corticium and ThelepTiora. 



Parasitism of Agaricus melleus,§ — A series of experiments made by 

 Dr. L. Savastano on the nature of the parasitism of this fungus on a number 

 of trees, leads him to the conclusion that it is not a primary cause of 

 disease, as it does not attack healthy plants, but only such as are already in 

 an unhealthy condition. 



Fungi parasitic on Camellia. || — Sig. J. Passerini enumerates and de- 

 scribes the following new species of fungi parasitic on Camellia japonica, 

 chiefly on the dry branches : — Sphserulina Camellise, Phoma tenuis, P. tecta, 

 P. ejiciens, P. Camellise, P. longicruris, Macrophoma Camelliae, M. japonica, 



* Bull. Soc. Bot. France, xxxiv. (1887) pp. 30-3. 



t Bot. Gazette, xii. (1887) pp. 66-7. 



X Atti R. Accad. Sci. Torino, xxii. (1887) pp. 355-61 (1 pi.). 



§ Nnov. Giorn. Bot. Ital., xix. (1887) pp. 97-100. 



11 Rev. MycoL, ix. (18!57) pp. 145-6. 



