NOTES AND BRIEF ARTICLES 



Mr. Worthington G. Smith, celebrated for his illustrations of 

 British fungi, died November i, 191 7. Several other famous 

 mycologists died last year, among them Dr. P. A. Karsten, of 

 Finland ; Dr. Paul Hariot, of France ; Professor George Massee, 

 of England; and Dr. Charles H. Peck, of America. 



At a recent meeting of the Torrey Botanical Club, Dr. W. A. 

 Murrill spoke of his investigations of the gill-fungi of tropical 

 North America, which he has just completed, the final paper on 

 this subject appearing in the March number of Mycologia. Some 

 of the larger genera were mentioned and the number of species in 

 them compared with those of temperate regions. Of the 525 trop- 

 ical species recognized by Dr. Murrill in his studies, 300 have been 

 described by him as new. 



The poplar canker, Dothichiza populea, was very destructive last 

 year. This disease was introduced from Europe several years 

 ago, and is now quite widely distributed in New York and New 

 Jersey, as well as elsewhere. The tree most seriously affected 

 is the Lombardy poplar, although the Carolina poplar suffers con- 

 siderably. No remedy has been found. The best means of 

 checking the disease consists ih cutting and burning affected trees 

 as soon as they are discovered and in keeping a careful watch 

 over nursery stock. 



The structure of Polyporns glomeratus Peck was described 

 and illustrated in the November number of Torrey a by Overholts, 

 who concludes that it is eminently worthy of specific rank. The 

 author gives a good description of the species and states that it is 

 known from New York, Ohio, and Michigan, on logs of maple 

 and beech. 



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