152 REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY OF THE 
some kinds of media all three produce almost constantly a bright 
red color where the mycelium comes in contact with the substratum. 
This is conspicuous. It has been observed in cultures on sterilized 
sugar beet, turnip, potato, wheat bread, cabbage and apple. The 
red color does not appear in cultures on potato agar, alfalfa agar, 
altalfa stems, cosmos stems or gelatin. 
The writer is in doubt as to the value of this red color as a 
diagnostic character. Such color production is by no means rare 
in some other genera, notably in Fusarium, but how common it is 
among the species of Sporotrichum we do not know and have been 
unable to learn much about it from the literature. We have had 
opportunity to cultivate but two other (undetermined) species”? of 
Sporotrichum neither of which showed any tendency to produce the 
red color. 
Pettit, who grew Sporotrichum globuliferum Speg. on sterilized 
potato observed a purple tinge in the near vicinity of the fungus 
colonies ; and Forbes*4 states that in some experiments made by him 
cabbage worms inoculated with Sporotrichum globuliferum were 
frequently, but not invariably, turned to a dull red color by the 
fungus. 
In the closely related genus Isaria the production of red color 
in artificial cultures is said to be common. Pettit?® found that 
potato and gelatin are colored purple by Jsaria densa (Lk.) Fries. ; 
that larve and pupz of the cabbage worm, Pieris rape, inoculated 
with /saria vexans Pettit become ‘a deep vinaceous purple ;” and 
Isaria sp. indet. produced red or purple color on potato. Giard”® 
states that a certain rosy color is very characteristic of Jsaria densa 
cultivated on artificial media; also, that similar color appears more 
or less distinctly in cultures of other Isariz and notably in cultures 
of the silk worm muscardine, Botrytis bassiana Bals. 

“For one of these we are under obligations to Prof. H. H. Whetzel of 
’ Cornell University and for the other to Dr. C. W. Edgerton of the Louisi- 
ana Experiment Station. 
* Pettit, R. H. Studies in artificial cultures of entomogenous fungi. 
Cornell Sta. Bul. 97: 364. 1895. 
*“Forbes, S. A. Experiments with the muscardine disease of the chinch- 
bug, etc. Ill. Sta. Bul. 38: 33, 43, 44. 1895. 
* Pettit, loc) cit, pp: 960,367; *360: 
*Giard, A. L’Isaria densa (Link) Fries, champignon parasite du han- 
neton commun (Melonotha vulgaris L.). Bul. Sci. France et Belg. 24: 1803. 
An extended review of this paper is given by V. L. Kellogg, Univ. of 
Kans. Exp. Sta. Third Annual Report of the Director, pp. 227-239. 1894. 
