152 
Mycologia 
3 cm. broad in the dried state; lamellae white, crowded; stipe 
slender, glabrous, slightly enlarged below; annulus inferior. 
W. A. Murrill. 
A New Book on the British Rust Fungi* 
In 1889, Plowright brought out the first monographic account 
of the rusts of England. In the twenty-four years which inter- 
vened before the next comprehensive treatment of the group by 
Grove, in 1913, it is not surprising to find that sufficient informa- 
tion has accumulated to make the latter presentation much more 
bulky than the former. Plowright treated both the rusts and 
smuts in a single volume of 347 pages, while Grove requires in 
the present volume 412 pages for the rusts alone. The two 
authors have treated their subject in a very similar manner, giv- 
ing first the biolog}-, or natural history, of the group and following 
it with a systematic part which includes descriptions, hosts, and 
distributions. Plowright devotes 57 pages to the natural history 
of the rusts and 135 to their classification, whereas the later 
author uses 84 and 300 pages, respectively, for the two parts. 
The expansion of the biological part by Grove is due partly to 
the fact that some entirely new topics, notably sexuality and sep- 
aration of species into races, have been developed in the interim 
and partly to the fact that he treats at greater length the life his- 
tories of certain typical forms. It is interesting to note that 
Puccinia Caricis instead of P. graminis has been selected for ex- 
tended consideration as “ the typical Uredine.” The author ex- 
plains that he has done this because the aecia of P. graminis are 
rare and difficult to obtain for demonstration, while that of P. 
Caricis is common. In the second, or systematic portion, the 
increase in the recent book is due chiefly to the larger number of 
species included, although the more complete descriptions with 
somewhat fuller notes would call for more space. A comparison 
of the two main genera, Puccinia and Uromyces, will throw some 
light on the taxonomic situation from the standpoint of the 
species. Plowright included 100 species of Puccinia and 38 of 
Uromyces, while Grove has added 37 species of Puccinia and 10 
♦The British Rust Fungi. By W. B. Grove, M.A., Pp. xii, 412. 290 text 
figs. Cambridge: at the University Press. 1913. 
