26 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW, 
“ Ere a leaf is on the bush, 
In the time before the thrush 
Has a thought about her nest, 
Thou wilt come with half a call, 
Spreading out thy glossy breast 
Like a careless Prodigal ; 
Telling tales about the sun 
Where we’ve little warmth, or none.” 
And one of the earliest parasitic fungi in spring is an JEcidium 
which flourishes on its glossy leaves. So common is JEcidium 
ranunculacearum on this species of Ranunculus , that it can 
scarcely have escaped the eye of any one who has taken the 
trouble to examine the plant. It appears in patches on the 
under-surface of the leaves or on their petioles, in the latter 
case swelling’ and distorting them. Sometimes these patches 
are nearly circular, at others of very irregular form, and vary- 
ing in size from less than one-twelfth of an inch to half an inch 
in diameter. It is found on several species of Ranunculus , as 
R. acrisj bulbosus, and repens , but most commonly on R. ficaria. 
The leaf is thickened at the spot occupied by the parasite, 
and generally without indication on the opposite surface. 
Sometimes one spot, at Others several, occur on the same 
leaf. The peridia are densely crowded together, often ar- 
ranged in a circinate manner, i.e. } like a watch spring, or the 
young frond of a fern. The spores are orange, but slightly 
varying in tint on different species of Ranunculus . One of 
the smaller clusters, when collected before the spores are 
dispersed, or the teeth of the peridium discoloured, mounted 
dry as an opaque object, makes a very excellent slide for an 
inch or half-inch objective; and the same may be said of 
many others of the same genus (plate II. figs. 7 — 9). 
Less common than the foregoing is the species of JEcidium 
which attacks the violet. The sweetest of flowers as well 
as the earliest, in despite both of its odour and its humility, 
becomes a victim to one or more of the ubiquitous race of 
fungi. Thickened spots at first appear on the leaves ; the 
petioles, or flower stem, or even the calyx, becomes swollen 
and distorted ; and at length the JEcidium breaks through. 
The spots on the leaves upon which the peridia are scattered 
are yellowish, generally larger than the clusters on the pile- 
wort, and seldom with more than one spot on each leaf. The 
peridia, or cups, are irregularly distributed over the spots, 
not crowded together as in the last species ; and the teeth 
are large, white, and distinct. The spores are at first orange, 
but at length become brownish. This species may be found 
in spring, as late as June, most commonly on the dog-violet, 
but also on other species of Viola , 
