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jno. 7 



DECADES OF MAINE FUNGI. 



DECADES OF MAINE FUNGI. 



Bz M. C. Cooke, London, England, 



(Corresponding Member.) 



(Dec. i, ii.) 



Since the time of Schweinitz, little has been added to our knowledge of 

 North American Fungi except by the labors of H. W. Eavenel of South 

 Carolina, and Dr. Curtis. As far as I am aware, no attempt has been made to 

 secure a list of the Fungi of any state except South Carolina and Ohio, 

 (Cincinnati, T. G. Lea;) and certainly no effort has hitherto been made in 

 favor of the state of Maine. Through the kindness of the Eev. E. C. Bolles, 

 I hope gradually to obtain specimens, at least of the more minute, and less 

 perishable Fungi, from the neighborhood of Portland, so that in course of time 

 a respectable list may be constructed of the Fungi of Maine. Without waiting 

 till such list can be perfected, -I have consented to notice and describe the 

 several consignments which I receive from time to time, and to give under 

 each species a brief character, sufficient for its identification. 



The two Decades now forwarded are confined to Coniomycetal Fungi, 

 those in which the spores are the main features, and which are developed princi- 

 pally upon the green parts of living plants. These include the JEcidiacei, the 

 Puccinicei, and the Coeomacei, as described fully in my " Microscopic Fungi." 

 Circumstances have transpired to strengthen the views I therein expressed 

 that the majority of species which constitute the genera Lerythea and Trichobasis 

 are but unicellular forms of species belonging to other genera, and with these 

 latter forms I shall associate them whenever I can do so with confidence. 

 Instances will occur in which I am unable to associate species of Trichobasis or 

 Lecythea with their higher forms, especially in extra-European species : — in such 

 cases I must content myself with recording the species under their provisional 

 names, in the hope that the future may unite them to their lawful spouses. 



Di-morphism is well illustrated in the rust and mildew of wheat. Early in 

 the season the ' red rust' appears. The orange spores are nearly globose, and one- 

 celled, under which form they have been regarded as a species of Trichobasis. 

 Later in the year the brown lines of the wheat mildew put in an appearance. 

 The spores are elongated, attached to a long stalk or peduncle, are divided by a 

 septum into two cells, and then known as Puccinia graminis. It is not 

 uncommon to find spores of both forms in the same pustule and springing from 

 the same mycelium. It has been suspected, and even asserted, that species of 

 Uromyces and JEcidium are further developments from Trichobasis and Puccinia, 

 and form with them an alternation of generations. The assertion that sEcidium 



