| # MICRO-FUNGI: WHEN AND WHERE TO FIND THEM by ## Thomas Brittain 1882

## SEPTEMBER THE autumn of the year is the great harvest of the student who pays especial attention to micro-fungi. It is then that the leaves of trees, and vegetation generally, begin to decay under the blighting influence of a lower temperature, and as they lose their vitality they become the abodes of a new vegetable kingdom, which may not improperly be called the invisible kingdom, for so far as the world generally is concerned, it is altogether unknown and uncared for. With the decay of ordinary vegetation we lose one of the most lovely aspects of nature, but to the microscopist this is not altogether a loss; there is a happy compensation for him in the marvellous wonders he finds in the new world brought into existence by the decay of the old. In the earlier portions of the year the micro-fungi he was able to find were upon healthy, perfect leaves, and comparatively few; now their number is legion, and they are found on dead and dying vegetation all around him wherever he may care to look for them. It would be vain in me to attempt to refer to all the numerous species which now make their appearance: the catalogue would be far too long for this short article, so I must confine myself chiefly to the notice of what I have myself met with in my rambles, or such as I have come upon unexpectedly. Still, as almost every locality is the home of special plants, microscopic or otherwise, it may be well to refer to such micro-fungi as may be easily recognised, by the student. By this time most of the Uredos are over, the one on the larger burnet still lingering on in connection with the beautiful chain-brand referred to in the last number for August, but several others have come to the front, amongst them Uredo quercus. On the underside of oak leaf this has been found in Sherwood forest and elsewhere, but I have never heard of it being found near to any of our large towns. The same remarks will apply to the bilberry fungus, Uredo vacciniorum, which is a native of the mountains or the moors. The fern uredo, or Uredo filicium, I have met with frequently on Cystopteris fragilis, but I still believe it is rare, as I cannot hear of others finding it. I have a. specimen on Scolopendrium vulgare which was supplied me by a friend. Amongst what may be termed the autumnal Uredos is one on the Enchanter's Nightshade, Circae lutetiana. This I once met with in beautiful condition in a wood at Matlock. The wood is on the left bank of the river Derwent, which has to be crossed by a boat. There is a remarkable circumstance connected with all these later Uredos, namely, that the spores are extremely minute. If the student will be at the trouble of comparing the spores of Uredo miniata, or any of the earlier species, with the spores of any autumnal kind, he will at once recognise the great difference. Many of the fungi referred to in last month's paper are still to be found, especially Erysiphe montagnii and E. Linkii. Rust, Smut, Mildew & Mould - M.C.Cooke - Plate 12 Fig. 248-249 Last year I found these in great plenty as late as October. It is only when the plants on which they live have been destroyed by the frost that they altogether disappear. Amongst Pucciniaei named in former papers, some are over, but many remain to reward the botanist, and amongst them are many that I have not previously referred to; amongst them Puccinia polygonorum. This I have never met with in good condition but once, and that was so far back as the autumn of 1863, now eighteen years ago. Puccinia galiorum, Bedstraw brand, on Galium aparine should be looked for now and also in October, as I found it last year in the latter month. The asparagus brand, P. asparagi, may now be met with. I have once found it when stopping at Ashford-in-the-Water, near Bakewell. The Iris Puccinia, and others named by Dr. Cooke I have never yet been able to find. In looking over my own gatherings of micro-fungi I have frequently been reminded of the fact that a considerable number of them I have met with but once, while others come to the front every year as regularly and as plentifully as dasies or buttercups. Some that I once thought very rare I now find frequently, and some others that I felt inclined to think common I have never met with. Probably this also maybe the experience of other students. The only wise plan of research is for the student to look out everywhere whenever an opportunity arises in both likely and unlikely places, and he will not unfrequently be rewarded by finding in the latter unexpected treasures, which will amply repay him for any trouble he may have taken. Pages from The Northern Microscopist No. 9 September 1881

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