68 



PARA. RUBBER LEAP FUNGUS. 



Mr. Petch writes from Ceylon sending leaves of Hevea Brazil- 

 iensis bearing a leaf fungus which he is about to describe under the 

 name of Helminthoporia Hevex. This appears identical with the 

 leaf fungus described on several occasions in the Bulletin as attack- 

 ing young leaves of Para rubber. It does not do much harm to adult 

 trees, but is very troublesome occasionally in nurseries of young 

 plants. 



H. N. R. 



CASSIA FISTULA. 



This handsome yellow-flowered tree often known as the Indian 

 Laburnum is sometimes cultivated here and especially in Malacca for 

 its beautiful blossoms. The fruit is a long cylindrical pod contain- 

 ing small flat seeds imbedded in a sweet, but purgative black pulp. 

 The fruit is commonly known as Pudding pipe, and the pulp used 

 as a purgative. To this use has been added another by the Chinese 

 whose skill and patience in inventing adulterations for everything 

 saleable is well known, as an adulterant for opium (chandu). and 

 there have been numerous complaints of this adulteration. The 

 sticky pulp somewhat resembles opium in appearance, but other- 

 wise it has no other similarity and cannot in any way improve the 

 flavour or action of the drug. 



H. N. R. 



A PARASITIC FUNGUS ON ROSES. 



This year 1905, in the wet weather of December our rose bushes 

 in tubs were attacked by a fungus which caused many branches to 

 die and become black. The fruit of the fungus is very minute. It 

 appears in great quantity on the dead boughs and consists of minute 

 globular heads borne on stalks, all of a reddish pink colour. Cutting 

 off the affected twigs and use of clubicide was tried effectually but 

 probably Copper sulphate would be better in this case. 



Specimens of this fungus sent to Kew were identified by Mr. 

 George MASSEE as Sphoerostilbe cinnabarina, Tul. This plant 

 belongs to the section Hypocreaceas. which includes the pestilent 

 genus Nectria; TuBEUF in his Diseases of Plants, gives the genus 

 Sphoerostilbe, as saprophytic only, but this species certainly appears 

 to be parasitic- on the rose bushes. 



H. N. R. 



CRICKETS EATING RUBBER PLANTS. 



The crickets described as biting off the tips of rubber seedlings 

 by Dr. LiM Boon KENG, about which a note was published in the 

 Bulletin of December, 1905, have been identified by Mr. C. O. Wa- 

 TERHOUSE of the British Museum. One of these is Br achy try pes 



