CLINTON: NORTH AMERICAN USTILAGINEAE. 
333 
USTILAGINEAE Tul. 
Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., hi, 7 : 73. 1847. 
Parasitic fungi infesting various parts of herbaceous flowering 
plants. Infection through the very young tissues of any part of the 
host or more frequently limited to special portions, often only through 
the germinating seed. Mycelium local or widespread, consisting of 
hyaline, somewhat septate, branched filaments practically limited to 
the interior of the host; at maturity often disappearing partially or 
wholly through gelatinization ; fertile mycelium compacting into 
masses and giving rise, in various ways, to chlamydospores formed 
from their internal contents; rarely developing a conidial stage on 
the exterior of the host. Sori evident, usually forming dusty or 
agglutinated spore masses that break out in definite places on the 
host; more rarely permanently embedded in the tissues. Chlamy¬ 
dospores (spores) light to dark colored, 4-35 ^ in diameter, simple, in 
pairs or in spore balls, the latter often composed in part of sterile 
cells. Germination by means of a promycelium, usually producing 
terminal or lateral sporidia, which may be capable of a saprophytic 
existence in nature and which often reproduce themselves abundantly 
through a yeast-like process of budding. 
The order contains 24 genera included under two families, as fol¬ 
lows : U stilaginaceae, Cintractia, Kuntzeomyces, Melanopsichium, 
Mykosyrinx, Schizonella, Schroteria 1 , Sorosporium, Sphacelotheca, 
Testicularia, Thecaphora, Tolyposporella, Tolyposporium, Ustilago, 
and Tilletiaceae, Burrillia, Doassansia, Entyloma, Melanotaenium, 
Neovossia, Polysaccopsis, Schinzia 1 , Tilletia, Tracya, Tuburcinia, Uro- 
cystis. The following names, for one reason or another, have become 
synonyms of the preceding : Cornuella, Didymochlamys, Entorrhiza, 
Geminella, Milleria, Polycystis, Vossia. The writer does not con¬ 
sider that Anthracoidea,Doassansiopsis,Endothlaspis, Poikilosporium, 
Rhamphospora, Setchellia, and Ustilagidium merit distinct generic 
rank. The following genera are excluded as belonging to other 
groups : Cerebella, Elaeomyees, Grapliiola, Hypostomum, Meria, 
Oedomyces, Paipalopsis, Sirentyloma, Sporophaga, Tuberculina, 
1 The family position of these two genera is not definitely settled. Some 
botanists consider them doubtful smuts. 
