May 96,1923 
Graminicolous Species of Helminthosporium 
677 
brown, densely granular contents,” would seem to indicate that these 
authors very probably drew their description from dead material. The 
peripheral wall is thin as in other species with subhyaline spores, and 
sometimes shows a perceptible constriction at the septa, the latter varying 
in number usually from 2 to 6 and delimiting segments ranging up to 
80 fx in length, and from 16 to 25 ju in diameter. The ends of the spores 
are rounded off abruptly, showing usually a hemispherical or hemi- 
ellipsoidal contour. The basal end is modified by the presence of a 
minute dalrk apicular projection at the apex of a small, faintly delimited, 
obtusely conical part, which, while the spore is still attached, fits into a 
depression in the center of the scar on the sporophore. 
When the spores are placed in water they germinate very promptly, 
the germ tubes being proliferated sometimes singly and indiscriminately 
from end or middle segments (PI. 10, Da, c); or more typically in groups 
of 3 or 4, usually from both basal and apical ends (PI. 10, Db), or less 
commonly from one or more intermediate segments (PI. 10, Dc). In any 
case the germ tubes are of unusual width, measuring 6 to 10 /i in diameter, 
and grow with remarkable rapidity. Germination is associated with a 
change in the protoplasm from an apparently homogeneous to an abun¬ 
dantly vacuolated structure. It may not be superfluous to add that the 
spores filled with '‘densely granular contents” never germinate, and 
segments exhibiting such structure, always together with a swollen 
peripheral wall, similarly remain inert.® 
HELMINTHOSPORIUM DICTYOIDES, N. SP. 
During the latter part of June, 1920, the writer observed a disease on 
meadow fescue (Festuca elatior, L.) which seemed to be widely prevalent 
in the region about Washington, D. C., scarcely any stand of this grass 
being entirely free from it. As meadow fescue, although not one of our 
most highly prized forage plants, is nevertheless of not inconsiderable 
economic importance, and is besides very generally distributed, an effort 
was made to determine whether the disease occurs also in other sections. 
In the vicinity of New York City, from early in July to the end of August, 
it was found to be so common on F. elatior that the very characteristic 
and conspicuous lesions could, in the absence of an inflorescence, be quite 
safely used to distinguish this species of grass from grasses having some¬ 
what similar foliage as, for example, Bromus inermis or B, secalinus L. 
Especially severely affected material was found near Port Washington 
on Long Island, where the dampness of the atmosphere incident to 
proximity to the sea,' may have favored the progress pf the malady. 
Other collections of diseased material were made at Stamford, Conn., 
August 2, 1920; Norwood, Mass., November 7, 1920; Lisbon Falls, Me., 
July 24, 1921; Annapolis, Md., October 15, 1921; and at numerous sta¬ 
tions in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia near Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., from early in August until late in October, 1921. Indeed, 
the writer has never failed to find the disease present to a greater or less 
extent on meadow fescue in all the localities in the New England and 
Middle Atlantic States that he has had occasion to visit. 
The symptoms of the trouble, a brief account of which was published 
in 1922 {32), are very similar to those induced by Helminthosporium 
• Since this account was written the writer has had opportunity to study the mode of development of 
the fungus in greater detail and on a considerable number of additional hosts. The results have been 
partly indicate in a brief note {33), and will be published in more complete form in a later paper. 
