38 



Mycologia 



Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew, England, No. 8 of this year, describes a new- 

 fungus {Phoma pigmentivora Mass.) which grows on fresh paint. 

 The fungus grows best in hothouses, high temperatures and con- 

 stant humidity being especially conducive to its development. 



The fungus appears as numerous, small, rose-colored specks in 

 the white paint about a month after it has been applied. These 

 spots increase in size and change to a purple or dark-red color 

 suggesting the idea of blood having been sprinkled on the paint. 

 The discolored areas spread and finally form effused patches 

 several inches in diameter. The fruit of the fungus appears as 

 minute blackish-red warts. One firm of painters during the 

 present year lost over £200 in consequence of the appearance of 

 the fungus in a large number of cucumber-houses painted with 

 expensive protective paint. 



The spores germinate in pure linseed oil but the mycelium re- 

 mains colorless and produces no fruit. No germination takes 

 place when the spores are sown in pure white lead. The red 

 color suggests that the white carbonate of lead undergoes some 

 chemical change induced by the presence of the fungus resulting 

 in the formation of oxide of lead. The presence of two per cent, 

 of carbolic acid in paint completely arrests the development of the 

 fungus. 



This is another illustration of the growth of certain fungi under 

 conditions which w^ould naturally be thought to be toxic to any 

 living plant. — F. J. Seaver. 



The Development of the Ascocarp of Lachnea scutellata. — In 

 the Botanical Gazette for October, Dr. W. H. Brown gives the 

 results of his studies of the development of the above named 

 species, a common and widely distributed discomycete occurring 

 on rotten wood. 



The multinucleate ascogonium was found in the youngest plants 

 which could be obtained to constitute the penultimate cell of the 

 archicarp which when mature consists of about nine cells. No 

 antheridium was found and it is probable that none was present. 

 No fusion of nuclei was observed in the ascogonium or in the 



