47 
or one very close to it, because they are attached to the germ tube of 
the spore, and the spore itself does not become separated from its ped¬ 
icel. If, on the contrary, the spore germinates in the air numerous 
spoiidia are formed, which maybe carried away by the air, etc., and 
will spread the fungus far and wide. In consequence of this it follows 
that it is of great advantage for the fungus that the sori should break 
out on the under side of the leaf. If they made their appearance on 
the upper side they would be wet by the rain and germinate by germ 
tubes. The different modes of germinating above described (which I 
have, moreover, noticed for other Leptopuccinias *) explains why 
nearly all Leptopuccinias form their sori mainly or exclusively on the 
undersides of the leaves. What the cause (light!) of this is remains 
to be ascertained. 
A description of this species is given below: Puccinia (lepto) heterogenea , 
n. s. P. maculis epiphyllis rotundatis vel rotundato angulatis, medio 
purpureis lutescenti marginatis concavis; soris teleutosporarum liypo- 
phyllis vel caulicolis, pulvinatis, prominulis, congregatis, castaneis, mox 
nudis; teleutosporis continuis vel bicellularibus, ovoideis, oblongis, vel 
ellipsoideis apice et basis rotundatis vel parum attenuatis, membraua 
levi, luteola ad apicem paullulum vel non incrassata et pedicello hya- 
ilno teleutospora 3-4-plo longiore, persistente pryeditis. Long, teleutosp. 
30-60//; lat teleutosp. 20-30//. 
Hab. in foliis et caulibus vivis Althcvcv rosce, Malva crispce,M. Peru - 
vicinal) M. nicceensis ad Quito, Mocha, Chimbo, Guarauda et aliis locis 
iEquatorim. 
A NEW COTTON RUST IN ECUADOR. 
Cotton, like other cultivated plants, is attacked by different kinds of 
fungi. Atkinson has recently described a new Eamularia on Gossypium 
lierbaceum in Alabama. It is striking that up to this time no Uredinem 
have been observed on the cotton plant, as the Malvas belonging to 
the same family are attacked by numerous species of rusts. This 
I think justifies the publication of a new Uredo on Gossypium, espe¬ 
cially as the disease thus caused is very injurious, and the cotton one 
of our most important cultivated plants. I discovered the fungus in 
the following manner: On December 10 of the preceding year I took a 
trip from Quito to Guayaquil to study the fungi and algae of the trop¬ 
ical region. By December 15 I had arrived at Balsapamba (Province 
of Los Rios), in the tropical region on the Rio Crystal, where I stopped 
for a day. The owner of the u casa ponada,” Senor Vasquez, took me 
around his plantation of coffee, oranges, and pineapples, and in the 
pineapple garden I noticed the diseased cotton plants. Senor Vasquez 
had planted here some of the shrub-like Gossypium, ordinarily planted 
in the equatorial coast region, and which yields large crops of good 
* The same thing appears in Gymnosporaugium. Compare Kieuitz-Gerloff in Bo- 
tanische Zeitung, 1888, p. 389, and Richards in Bot. Gazette, 1889, No. 9. 
