1911] CURRENT LITERATURE 485 
possibility is suggested that fasciation of the ears may bea purely physiological 
effect of disturbed nutrition. 
MERSON* reports the discovery of red aleurone color as a latent character 
in a cross between Queen’s Golden pop corn and Black Mexican sweet corn 
though other crosses between these two varieties gave only purple Slenrote: 
Crosses between a tested homozygous red-aleurone strain and White Rice 
pop corn and Evergreen sweet corn produced F,’s with only purple aleurone 
cells, thus demonstrating the presence of P as a latent character in both of 
these white varieties. Dark and light yellow endosperm colors were also 
seen to be latent as a result of a cross between the orange-colored Queen’s 
Golden and the Black Mexican with colorless endosperm. 
While not experimental, two papers by Itt1s” on abnormalities are worthy 
of mention. Both of these abnormalities are assumed to have been induced 
by the traumatic action of Ustilago Maydis. In the first the glumes of the 
female flowers were somewhat enlarged, and in place of the carpel arose a 
tubular structure 10-20 cm. long, terminated by a long pistil-like thread 20 cm. 
long. The occurrence of a ligule on this structure served to identify it as a 
phyllode, and leads the author to the conclusion that the ovary, which after- 
ward forms the seed coat, is homologous with the leaf sheath, and the style 
with the leaf blade. Within this tube, as a prolongation of the axis, grew an 
abnormal leafy branch. In the second paper?’ the author describes abnormal 
orescences in which the flowers are paired, each pair consisting of a sessile 
female or hermaphrodite flower and a stalked male flower. This is an arrange- 
ment characteristic of the Andropogoneae, and the author looks upon its 
appearance in maize as a reversion. On this basis he would rank the Zeae asa 
subtribe of the Andropogoneae, in support of Hacker and Stapr, who had 
adopted this arrangement on other grounds.—Gro. H. SHULL. 
ichen parasites.— ToBLER™ has studied the relation of two so-called 
lichen parasites to the lichen host, to the alga on which the lichen grows, and 
to the substratum to which the lichen is attached. After the manner of think- 
ing commonly followed by European botanists, and often by American as well, 
Emerson, R. A., Latent colors in corn. Ann. Rept. Amer. Breeders’ Ass. 6: 
233-237. I9I0. 
2 Intis, H., Ueber eine durch Maisbrand verursachte intracarpellare Prolifikation 
bei Zea Mays L. Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien. Math.-naturw. Klasse 119. 
pp. 15. pls. 2. 1910. 
43 Int1s, H., Ueber einige bei Zea Mays L. beobachtete Atavismen, ihre Verur- 
sachung durch den Maisbrand, Ustilago Maydis (DC.) Corda tiber die Stellung der 
Gattung Zea im System. Zeitschr. Abst. Vererb. 5: 38-57. pls. 2. Igtt. 
24TostEer, F., Zur Biologie von Flechten und Flechtenpilzen. I. Ueber die 
bicuhenenn 4 sales Flechtenparasiten zum Substrat. Jahrb. Wiss. Bot. 49:389- 
409. pl. 3. fig. I. 1911. 
