Edith K. Cash

Leaf blotch of Poplar caused by a new species of Septotinia.

For several years a conspicuous leaf blotch on plantation trees of hybrid poplar clones has been under observation in the eastern United States. The symptoms differ from those resulting from infection by the leaf fungi common on native poplars in that area and the causal organism has only recently been identified as a spe? cies of Septotinia. This genus was established by Whetzel (5) in the subfamily Ciborioideae of the Helotiaceae, based on 5*. podophyllina Whetzel, the only species then known in the genus.

Some fungi on Orchidaceae.

During recent years a very large number of fungus specimens col? lected on living orchid plants by inspectors of the Plant Quarantine Branch, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, at ports of entry have been referred to the writers for study and identification. Some of the fungi found have occurred only once or twice, but others have reappeared more or less frequently from year to year on interceptions made at the same or different ports of entry. It seems worth while to call attention to the more important of these fungi, particularly to those which appear to be undescribed or previously unreported on orchids. Unfavorable conditions of shipment and storage as well as mechanical injuries due to handling are in many cases followed by the development of saprophytic fungi, so that the, species present on plants when they arrive at the port of entry are frequently not those responsible for the diseased condition of the host plants. For this reason it is difficult to estimate the pathogenic importance of the organisms found. Fungi commonly found in soil or on decaying fibers, such as Memnoniella echinata (Riv.) L. D. Gall. and species of Stachybotrys and Chaetomium, are not infrequently present on old orchid leaves. Gliomastix convoluta (Harz) Mason and Chlamydomyces palmarum (Cke.) Mason, which are widely distributed on decaying plants of various kinds, have also been observed among such saprophytes. In addition to describing several new species, we have commented briefly on some fungi which do not appear to fit any described species, but which have not been found in sufficient quantity or adequate condi? tion to justify naming. Certain species are reported for the first time on orchids, and the host range of others is extended to include additional genera and species of the family. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Dr. J. C. Lindquist and Prof. C. Cappeletti for the loan of type specimens from the Spegazzini Her? barium and the Saccardo Herbarium, respectively.

New Records of Hawaiian Discomycetes

The extensive fungus collections made in the Hawaiian Islands during the winter of 1927-1928 by Drs. C. L. Shear and N. E. Stevens include a considerable number of discomycetes, a group heretofore very little known from this region. Additional specimens from the herbarium of Mr. Otto Degener, a well-known phanerogamic botanist of the Islands, were also examined. A study of this material has yielded data of interest, since it extends the known range and adds new hosts for a number of discomycetes already described, and also includes six species here described as new. F. L. Stevens (4) notes only five species of Pezizales in his catalogue of Hawaiian fungi; the present paper discusses thirtyfive, only one of which was included by Stevens, the rest being reported from this locality for the first time.

Some New or Rare Florida Dis-Comycetes and Hysteriales

Extensive collections of fungi made in Florida during the years 1937 to 1943 by Dr. C. L. Shear include about three hundred specimens of Discomycetes and Hysteriales which the writer has had the opportunity of examining. Several of these appear to be undescribed and are named as new in this account; notes are also given on four other species which are unreported or rare in the United States. The specimens have been deposited in the Mycological Collections of the Bureau of Plant Industry, and where the material was in sufficient quantity to divide, portions have been also sent to the herbaria of the New York Botanical Garden, the University of Michigan, and to the Farlow Herbarium of Harvard University. The writer gratefully acknowledges the receipt of type specimens from Drs. David H. Linder and W. L. White of the Farlow Herbarium and Dr. H. M. Fitzpatrick of Cornell University. References to some of the fungi here discussed were also supplied through the kindness of Dr. White.

New or Little Known Ascomycetes Collected in SãO Paulo in 1936

On January 12, 1936, the first two writers of this paper made an excursion to the Biological Station of the State of Sao Paulo, at Alto da Serra (between Sao Paulo and Santos), particularly to learn whether Corynelia brasiliensis Fitzpatrick was present on Podocarputs growing there, and, if so, to gather material of it. This fungus was not found, but two other described fungi were discovered on other plants growing naturally in this moist mountainous area. The following May another mycological excursion was made to Itanhaen (south of Santos).1 Among the fungi collected in this littoral region of the State of Sao Paulo were two Discomycetes, one, described, although rarely collected, the other new, and undescribed. These were studied by the third author of this paper.

Species of Sclerotinia from Grand Mesa National Forest, Colorado

This paper consists of some of the results of a collecting trip made by the senior author to the Grand Mesa National Forest, Colorado, during the period of June 12 to July 20, 1930. Al? though the fungi here discussed represent only a small percentage of the total number of collections, it seems that the species of Sclerotinia were sufficient in number and interest to justify a separate account. The Grand Mesa National Forest is on the western slope of the Continental Divide in the west-central part of Colorado, and Grand Mesa Mountain, where most of the species of Sclerotinia were obtained, has sufricient moisture from melting snow and summer rains to make possible a rich fungus flora. Most of the fungi were found near the top of the mountain, at an elevation of about 10,000 feet; Sclerotinia gregaria, however, occurred approximately 2,000 feet lower, several miles down the mountain from Mesa Lakes.

Some New Species of Ascomycetes on Coniferous Hosts

The fungi here described include one pyrenomycete and four discomycetes collected on conifers in various localities of the United States. Specimens cited are deposited in the Mycological Collections of the Bureau of Plant Industry; type material of the Cenangium has also been sent to the herbaria of the New York Botanical Garden and the University of Michigan and to the Farlow Herbarium of Harvard University.

Two Species of Hysteriales on Smilax

For many years confusion has existed regarding two species of the Hysteriales occurring on stems of Smilax in North America, so similar in macroscopic appearance, particularly in their early stages of development, that the distinction between them has not been clearly recognized. Both of these fungi have been referred to Hysteriurm Slmilacis Schw. One is a species of Gloniopsis, called Gloniopsis Smilacis (Schw.) Underw. & Earle, or Hysterographiurm Smilacis (Schw.) Ellis & Ev.; the second a Hypodermataceous fungus generally known as Hypoderma Smilacis (Schw.) Rehm, although it would appear to belong more properly in the genus Hypodermopsis. In well developed material the Gloniopsis can be distinguished by its superficial fruiting bodies as contrasted with those of the Hypodermopsis, which remain beneath the epidermis even when mature. The most evident difference is in the character of the spores, which are hyaline and muriform in the former, brown and 3-septate in the latter. The superficial resemblance of these two species and their growth on the same host has led to mixed collections, apothecia of both fungi being sometimes present on the same stem, only a few centimeters apart. It is apparent from the literature that the original Schweinitz specimen must have been such a mixed collection, and that some of the authors who examined his specimen found and described the one, some the other of the two species. An added source of confusion is the fact that some descriptions appear to combine characters of both fungi under a single name.

The Taxonomy of Peziza Quernea

Peziza quernea Schw. has been gathered but rarely since the original collection and any interpretation of its structure and taxonomy has been prevented largely by a lack of specimens. Available material, moreover, has not been in satisfactory condition for adequate study. A specimen from Lakoochee, Florida, in exceptionally good condition, shows certain characteristic features which are of taxonomic significance. The fungus appears to be distinct from Cenangium, to which the species has heretofore been referred, in the presence of an epithecium and of conspicuous excipular ridges which persist as claw-like projections on the margin of the opened disk. This ridged exciple resembles that of Godronia,1 but the fungus differs in the thicker, more carbonaceous texture, in the simple asco? spores and in the subapplanate form when mature. Among the genera of the Patellariaceae it is most suggestive of Starbaeckia, which, however, lacks the regular excipular ridges and possesses much branched paraphyses. Since its most obvious relationships are with Cenangium and Godronia, the species Peziza quernea is retained in the Cenangiaceae and is taken as the type of a

Six New Indian Discomycetes

examination during the past few months, a specimen of Dasyscyphella, two of Humaria, and three of Humarina appear to differ from any species of these genera that could be found in the literature and are therefore named here as new. Type specimens of these fungi are deposited in the Mycological Collections of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Beltsville, Maryland, and duplicate material of some of them in the herbarium of the collector at Lahore, Pakistan.