The Black Spruce. 



293 



at the close of the season. This fungus is but little known. 

 I have observed it myself in the Adirondack region during 

 a single collecting trip only, and have received specimens 

 from Essex county in this state and. from the White 

 mountains of New Hampshire. It was abundant on the 

 starved spruces about Boreas pond and on the summits 

 of Mts. Colvin, Nipple Top, Haystack, Skylight and Marcy. 

 In some instances nearly if not fully half the leaves on a tree 

 were affected. The foliage therefore had an unnatural hue 

 even when seen at a distance. It would be interesting to know 

 if the fungus was exceptionally abundant that particular 

 season and also if its attacks are ever sufficiently severe to 

 cause the death of the tree. They certainly can not be other- 

 wise than injurious, but other conclusions must await 

 further observations. It is noticeable that this fungus, like 

 the Arceuthobium, does not appear to attack the forest 

 spruce. Both prey upon the degenerated feeble forms of the 

 species, thus showing a certain kind of respect for the great 

 and noble trees of the forest and giving a wider application 

 than is usual to the old maxim " kick the man who is 

 down." It is perhaps one of nature's methods of indicat- 

 ing her displeasure in degraded varieties aud one of the 

 means by which she seeks to preserve the integrity of her 

 species. 



Among the animal parasites of the spruce we find a small 

 plant louse that attacks the tips of the branches early in 

 the season. It causes such a transformation of the leaves 

 at the end of the branch as to produce the appearance of 

 green cones. The leaves become flattened and exces- 

 sively wide and overlap each other like the cone scales. 

 The elongation of the branch is checked and the general 

 resemblance of the mass to a cone is so close that any but 

 close observers would be likely to be deceived by it. Doubt- 

 less it is this insect to which Dr. Packard refers when he 

 says " a species closely related to the European Adelges 

 coccineus of Eatzburg and the A. strobilius of Kaltenbach, 



