173 



USTILAGINEAE. 



UsTiLAGO CYNODONTis, P. Henii. Destroying the inflor- 

 escences of Gynodon dactylon, Pers. Mile End, Jan., 1918, 

 G. Quinn. 



Although the host plant of this fungus is widely grown 

 for lawns, and occurs wild on dunes in many places, the fungus 

 had not been recorded in South Australia before. It has 

 since been found on many occasions in gardens around Ade- 

 laide during the summer (McAlp., 1910, p. 155; Osbom, 

 1918, 1921). 



UsTiLAGO Tepperi, Ludw. Sori on inflorescences while 

 still enclosed in abnormally numerous sheathing leaf-bases, 

 forming a compact black mass in which generally only the 

 axis of the inflorescence remains of the host. Spore mass 



Fig. 4. 

 Spores of Ustilago Tepperi, Ludw. (xllOO). 



ultimately exposed by decay of the leaf -bases and becoming 

 powdery. 



Spores brown, globose to ellipsoidal, finely echinulate, 

 10-14^. 



On Neurachne alopecv/roides, R. Br. Burnside, Nov., 

 1916; Moppa Scrub, Oct. 1917. 



A smut on N euraclme alo'pecuroides was sent to Ludwig 

 by J. G. O. Tepper from Torrens Gorge, South Australia, 

 who described it in 1889. The fungus appears to have a 

 limited Australian distribution, for McAlpine, in 1910, said 

 he had not seen any smut on that host. In November, 1916, 

 it was first found at Burnside, some six miles south of the 

 type locality, and later in the Moppa Scrub, some 30 miles 

 to the north. In both localities it is locally common. 



