Sept. 1906 ] Notes from Mycological Literature 
217 
Hedgcock, George Grant. 
“A Disease of Cultivated Agaves due to Colletotrichum,” 
namely C. agaves Cav., is reported by George Grant Hedgcock 
(see 16th Rep. Mo. Bot. Gar. 1905) as occurring on leaves of 
A. americana, A. atrovirens, A. horrida, A. marmorota, A. po¬ 
tatorum, A. utahensis, and A. spp. — often causing the death of 
younger plants. No ascigerous stage was found. A half-tone 
plate shows a plant killed, and one partially killed by the fungus; 
another shows typical diseased areas with acervuli; and a third 
illustrates acervuli young and older, setae, conidiophores and 
conidia. 
Hasselbring, Heinrich. 
An experimental study has been made by Heinrich Hassel- 
fring of the “Appressoria of the Anthracnoses,” published in the 
August No. of the Botanical Gazette, 1906. These peculiar spore¬ 
like organs, produced by the germ tubes of spores, were recog¬ 
nized by Frank in 1883, who observed that they acted as hold¬ 
fasts. They were regarded by some investigators as “second¬ 
ary spores/’ but Frank first recognized the true nature of these 
bodies, and gave to all organs of this class the name appres¬ 
soria or adhesion organs. American writers on the bitter rot 
seem not to have regarded the work done by the foreign in¬ 
vestigators and in order to clear up the uncertainty expressed in 
the literature experiments and observations were made by Mr. 
Hasselbring whose summary affirms that these spore-like or¬ 
gans formed by the germ tubes of the anthracnose, are ad¬ 
hesion organs, by means of which the fungus is attached to the 
surface of its host during the early stage of infection. They are 
not suited for dissemination and therefore are not to be regarded 
as spores. The adhesion discs are formed as a result of stimuli 
from mechanical contact acting on the germ tubes. 
Bates, J. M. 
The “Rust notes for 1904” by J. M. Bates in the Journal 
of Mycology for May, 1905, deals principally with Puccinia on 
Distichlis stricta, a cosmopolitan rust, the aecidia on Chenopo- 
dium, Cleome and Lepidium. Reference is also made to Uro- 
myces astragali on Astragalus lotifforus nebraskensis Bates, A. 
plattensis and A. crassicarpus. 
Thom, Charles. 
Charles Thom gives “Some Suggestions from the study of 
Dairy Fungi” in the Journal of Mycology, May 1905. The paper 
attempts to present a plan for obtaining more definite knowledge 
of these forms by the dairy student in the use of his own methods. 
