May 96,1923 
Graminicolous Species of Helminthosporiuni 
707 
curving gently into the protruding hilum; 3 to 10 septate, the septa not usually asso¬ 
ciated with perceptible constrictions in the peripheral wall. The peripheral wall at 
maturity, thick as in H. sativum or H. vagans, except at the apex and about a sub¬ 
hyaline narrow zone at the proximal end immediately adjacent to the hilum, where it 
remains thin. Germinating by the production of two polar germ tubes, one from each 
of the thin-walled regions. 
On artificial media, at ordina^ temperatures, producing conidia smaller than those 
produced under natural conditions but of the same characteristic shape. Vegetative 
mycelium light fuliginous, 2 to 4 mm. in diameter, anastomosing abundantly by smaller 
subhyaline branches without the production of lobulate segments. Sporophoresfuli- 
genous, thin-walled, often exhibiting a tendency toward branching; approximately 
5 in diameter, arising abruptly as branches from vegetative hyphae; or narrow at 
the point of origin and expanding more gradually; provided with septa generally at 
intervals of from 30 to 50 ju and proliferating spores at considerably shorter intervals 
than in nature, thus producing a moderately compact racemose cluster. 
Habitat. —Collected at Port Washington, N. Y., September 20, 1920, in a moder¬ 
ately moist situation near the sea. 
HELMINTHOSPORIUM HAEODES, N. SP. 
During the latter part of the growing season of 1920 the writer kept 
under observation a stand of Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene growing 
on a salt marsh near Douglaston, N. Y., on the northern coast of Long 
Island. Collections of the grass made on different dates, September 
10, September 26, and October 5, revealed indications of injury immedi¬ 
ately suggesting similarity to the symptoms of spotblotch and footrot 
produced on other graminaceous hosts by various species of Helmintho- 
sporium, like H, sativum^ H, monoceras, and H, vagans. The lesions were 
present on the otherwise healthy foliar parts as dark, discolored areas, 
with a bluish cast, not definitely circumscribed, the margins fading 
insensibly into the green of the surrounding tissue. (PI. 22, A.) On the 
leaf blades the discolored spots were generally relatively infrequent; 
they were found more commonly on the sheath, especially on the upper 
portion immediately below the attachment of the blade. After the death 
of the affected tissue, the discoloration usually lost some of its intensity, 
the spots then appearing as rather vague blotches not readily distin¬ 
guishable from similar blotches commonly found on the dead plants but 
attributable to other agencies. 
Microscopical examination of dead affected foliar parts revealed a 
species of Helminthosporium present in meager quantity as the probable 
cause of the disease. Sporophores (pi. 22, Ef-g) occurring on the leaf 
blades were always found entirely denuded; and whatever spores could 
be discovered were as frequently found adhering to obviously unaffected 
tissues or lodged under the upper edge of the leaf sheaths as scattered 
on the epidermis in proximity to the sporophores. In view of the fact 
that the host is occasionally inundated by tidal water, an explanation 
for such a condition is manifestly not difficult to find. To determine 
whether the disease observed bore any relation to the Helminthosporium 
fructifications, freshly affected green parts were dissected out and incu¬ 
bated in a damp chamber. Affter 15 days the discolored areas were 
covered with a dense growth of^ conidiosphores bearing conidia corre¬ 
sponding quite closely to those found in nature. Pure cultures made 
from spores obtained directly from the material as it was collected and 
from spores developed in the damp chamber further demonstrated the 
specific identity of the two lots of material and consequently also the 
parasitic nature of the fungus originally observed. 
As might be expected from the similarity of pathological symptoms, 
the fungus shows a fairly close resemblance to Helminthosporium sativum* 
