8 



Neix) Fungi. 



mass of colourless interwoven hyphse, forming- a compact 

 mycelium, enclosed in the unchang-ed testa of the mericarp. 

 This sclerotium has been built up from the food originally 

 intended by the plant for its own ovules. 



Infected fruits at once fall when fully developed, and on the 

 damp ground they produce the sporophores bearing mature 

 conidia in about ten days. 



Whether the conidia are deposited on the stigma by insects 

 or through the agency of wind has not been determined, but 

 infection of fresh flowers continues throughout the floweringf 

 season of the host-plant. 



Infected fruits produced late in the season do not immediately 

 produce conidia on falling to the ground, probably due to a 

 decrease in the temperature, but remain in a passive state until 

 the following- season, when conidia are produced and inoculation 

 of the hemlock flowers commences anew. 



The parasitism of this fungus is evidently firmly established 

 on Coniinn as a host-plant, as shown both from inoculation 

 experiments and from the large quantity of specimens found on 

 the fruit of this plant in a wild state. On the other hand, the 

 very small percentage of successful inoculations resulting when 

 Heracleuni was used as a host, added to the fact that only 

 a single Heracleum fruit was found bearing the fungus in a wild 

 state, seems to indicate that the struggle for mastery between 

 this plant and the fungus is keen. 



It is somewhat remarkable that this fung-us has not previously 

 been observed anyw^here, considering the comparative abundance 

 of Conium. Only one other species of Symphosira, S. lutea, is 

 known. This occurs in Germany, and is not a parasite. 



Sutton, near Askern. (Coll. A. Clarke and C. Crossland, 

 at the Sutton Y.N.U. Foray, September 1899.) 



Description of Figures ox Plate. 



Fig-. I. — Etiioloma Farralii Mass.&Crossl. A medium-sized specimen. 

 Xatural size. 

 ,, 2. — Section of Fig-, i. Xatural size. 



3. — Spores of same. x 400. 

 ,, 4. — Cyslicliuni of same. x 400. 



5. —Hyii-r(ip/iorns nicl icc'iis Fries. Natui-al size. 

 ,, b.-- Section of same. Xatural size. 



7. — Spores of same. x 400. 



8. -MarasiN i us I a ^(^p in us Post. A g-roup of plants. Natural size. 

 ,, 9. — A plant of same. x 3. 



10. — Spores of same. x 400. 



Naturalist, 



