CLINTON: NORTH AMERICAN USTILAGINEAE. 
395 
spores of the species look very much like those of JJstilago Bistor- 
tcirum. The germination has been described by Schroter and 
Brefeld. Literature : 23, 46. 
Sphacelotheca Hydropiperis var. borealis Clint, n. var. 
Sorus very similar to that of the species with perhaps the false 
membrane not so prominent and with the columella more robust; 
sterile cells hyaline or slightly tinted, subspherical, thick walled, 
chiefly slightly larger than the spores ; spores violet purple, ovoid to 
spherical or occasionally more irregular, often apparently smooth 
but really minutely granular, chiefly 8-11 /x in length. 
Host: Polygonum bistortoides , Wash, (type), Wyo. 
The writer is indebted to Professor Piper for the specimens upon 
which this variety is based. These were collected on Mt. Rainier. 
The specimen from Wyoming was not seen. The variety differs 
from the species chiefly in the smaller and lighter colored spores. 
The species has been reported in Europe on Polygonum Bistorta 
(which is considered by some botanists the same as P. bistortoides ) 
but specimens on this host have not been available to determine if 
they were the same or not as the variety described here. 
Melanopsichium Beck. 
Ann. K. K. Natur. Hofmus. Wien, 9: 122. 1894. 
Type: Melanopsichium Austro-Americanum (Speg.) Beck. 1 
Host: Polygonum sp. Mo. 
Sori on various parts of the host, forming dark colored, hard, 
firmly agglutinated and conspicuous spore masses / spores simple, 
developed in irregular chambers or groups ar ising from a mixture of 
plant tissue and fungous threads , thus giving a tubercular character 
to the sorus, enveloped by a more or less permanent gelatinous 
envelope, discharging from spore mass by absorption of water, of 
medium size; germination as in Ustilago. 
This genus, so far, contains only a single species, formerly 
1 Based on Ustilago Austro-Americana Speg. issued in Rab. Fungi Eur., no. 
3501. The original type of U. Austro-Americana was described from South 
America. 
