232 A Monograph of the Ervsiphaceae 



highly colored asci and spores there Is every appearance of the 

 condition being a pathological one. 



On the whole, it appears best to consider the Phyllactinia on 

 Bcrbcris as a form slightly affected by certain pecuharitics of the 

 host-plant, and not morphologically distinct from P, corylea. 



Dr. Palla is mistaken in stating that Phyllactinia had not pre- 

 viously been reported on Bcrberis, Saccardo has distributed 

 specimens from Italy (Sacc. Myc. Ven. 895, Phyllactinia guttata, 

 f. Bcrbcris vulgaris) ; Passerini {2']2\ and many other authors 

 have recorded it from other places in Europe, and Berkeley (35), 

 Farlovv (122), Burrill (60), etc., report it from America. 



ErysiphcUa Carcstiana was described by Saccardo as being 

 destitute of appendages, and consequently referable to the genus 

 named. Professor Saccardo very kindly sent me the type-speci- 

 men for examination. The fungus is P, corylca ; some of the 

 perithccia have lost their appendages, but some show a few perfect 

 ones, and many have retained a ring of the bulbous bases of the ap- 

 pendages. The fungus w^as recorded as growing on the damp 



/' 



now every reason, I 



think, for believing that it did not originate there. Certainly the. 

 perithccia adhere firmly to the pileus of the /vw/r.?, but there is as 

 regards the present s|^ecies, clear evidence for disregarding mere 

 attachment as a proof that the fungus originally grew there. Dr. 

 Palla, when sending me specimens of the Phyllactinia on Bcrbcris, 

 wrote that the fungus was always hypophyllous, and mentioned that 

 the perithccia which wxre to be found on the upper surface of the 

 leaves sent, owed their presence there to the pressure of the under 

 sides of other leaves. Without such warning, one would certainly 

 have considered these perithccia as originally growing on the 

 upper surface of the leaf, for they were firmly attached to the sub- 

 stratum, and like the specimens on the pileus of the Ponies re- 

 quired some little force to move them with a needle. 



This reattachment of the perithecium is brought about by the 

 mucilaginous branches of certain special apical outgrowths. In 

 the case of the Phyllactinia on the Pontes, Professor Saccardo 

 states (52) that the pileus of the *' host '^-fungus w^as moist; this 

 favors the idea that a reattachment by means of the mucilaginous 

 branches had taken place. I am glad to be able to state that 



