5o8 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. VI, No. 6, 
by the fungus by the time of flowering, develop pods in propor- 
tion to their vigor. The pods are badly attacked and exhibit 
spots quite similar to the ordinary anthracnose of the bean. In 
a case of Ascocyhta pisi on Egyptian-peas, Lochhead^ describes 
the spots on pods to have “rings of black specks more or less 
concentric.’’ No such appearance was found in connection 
with any of the peas examined. However, the Egyptian-pea 
belongs to a different genus from any host found by the writer 
to be' affected with Ascochyta pisi. 
Perhaps the most important thing in connection with the 
life history of the fungus, is, that it grows through the husk into 
the seed. Frequently, when the pod contains no seed, the my- 
celium will grow through, forming similar spots on both sides of 
the pod. When the mycelium passes into the seed, brown spots 
are formed on the surface. In the worst cases, half of the sur- 
face is frequently discolored and the seed adheres to the husk. 
These areas are much more striking on g7'een peas such as the 
Market Garden than on the yellowish varieties as the Admiral. 
Peas affected with the mycelium of the fungus, can not always 
be told by an ordinary microscopic examination. A consider- 
able amount of mycelium sometimes fails to color the pea and no 
spot is developed until the pea is exposed to considerable mois- 
ture for a short period. 
The fungus . — The pycnidia of the fungus are formed on the 
dead areas of the stems, leaves, pods and seed and even on dead 
stems and branches where the effects of the fungus are not easily 
noticeable. They are ordinarily brown, have a circular opening 
and measure 125 to 100 ij. in diameter. On the seed, they are 
formed on the outer surface, but frequently this is cracked away 
and fruit bodies occur below. Here they are often of a yellowish 
or amber color and occur in numbers from a few to several 
dozen and are sometimes so crowded as to form almost a solid 
mass for as much as five or six mm. in diameter. 
The spores are oblong, usually 2-celled and slightly constricted 
at the septum. Those of the field-pea (French June), measured 
12 to 10 X 4 to G jU,. One measurement of spores on pea seed 
showed them to be 8 to 11 x 5 to 7 fi. and practically all con- 
tinuous; while those on a specimen of Market Garden seed, were 
10 to 20 X 3 to 5 /X and a few, even, were 2-septate, measuring 
as much as 23 yu. long. Lack of maturity was the chief cause 
of the continuous spores, though some of these never become 
septate. Lochhead^ reports only a few 2-celled spores found in 
some material of Egyptian-peas affected with Ascochyta pisi. 
Ascochyta pisicola (Berk.) Sacc., which is perhaps identical with 
3. Ont. Apr. Coll, and Exp. Farm. An. Rep. 1903, j)p. 17-33, 13. 
4. Lochhead, 1. c., p. 27. 
