CURRENT LITERATURE 



BOOK REVIEWS 

 The British rusts 



A volume dealing with the British Uredinales is very welcome, since it 

 organizes in convenient form a widely scattered literature. 1 The descriptions 

 are based upon those of Sydow's Monographia Uredinearum, and all the species 

 of which British specimens could be procured have been revised. The nomen- 

 clature of , course presents unusual difficulties, but the principle of priority has 

 been followed, subject to two conditions: (i) names given to varieties need not 

 be adopted, and (2) names given to imperfect stages are not to be preferred, 

 but the earliest name given to the perfect stage. Both of these conditions 

 have been provided for by international agreements. 



There are six introductory chapters dealing with general topics before the 

 systematic presentation. The first chapter uses Puccinia Cartels as a typical 

 "uredine" in giving an account of the life history of a rust. The reason given 

 for dislodging P. graminis from this usual position is that its aecidium is now 

 very rarely found in England, while that of P. Caricis (on nettle) is common. 



The second chapter discusses the sexuality of the Uredinales and reaches 

 the usual conclusion that there is a definite alternation of n and in generations. 

 In the third chapter the multitudinous spore forms are discussed, with the 

 various elisions in the life history, and the terminology arising from them. 



The fourth chapter contains accounts of the life histories of certain repre- 

 sentative Uredinales: Puccinia graminis, P. Poarum, P. Malvacearum, Gymno- 

 sporangiitm clavariaeforme, Endophyllum Sempervivi, Cronartium rihicola , 

 Melampsora pinitorqua, and Calyptospora Goeppertiana. These life histories 

 were selected to show the variations in life cycles, so far as could be done from 

 British species. 



The fifth chapter deals with specialization, including immunity; while the 

 sixth discusses classification and phylogeny. The Uredinales are regarded as 



1 



monophyletic, arising possibly from the Rhodophyceae. According to the 

 diagrammatic scheme, the Fungi offshoot from Red Algae soon forked into 

 two divergent branches, one ending in the Ascomycetes, and on the way giving 

 rise to the Basidiomycetes; while the other branch resulted in Uredinales and 

 Ustilaginales. There is also presented a scheme starting with the "primitive 

 uredine" and resulting in the various families of the Uredinales. 



The systematic part of the volume (306 pp.), with its full descriptions and 

 numerous illustrations, makes the recognition of the British rusts as easy as 



1 Grove, W. B., The British rust fungi (Uredinales); their biol<»^\ unci damfica 

 tion. &vo. pp. xii-f-412. figs. 2QO. Cambridge University Press. 1913. N>. 



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