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

## JUNE THE month of June is exceedingly rich in leaf-fungi, many of the most beautiful of them may be met with during the entire month. The Aecideacei are especially plentiful, but only a few of them are within the reach of Manchester. One of the commonest, the Coltsfoot clustercap, Aecidium compositarum var tussilaginis, I have found on the banks of the Mersey, near Northenden, and in great plenty in the Buxton valley as far as Millers Dale, and a score of other localities. Ae. Epilobii will about this time be in fine condition in the same localities, and generally throughout the country. It appears to be chiefly developed upon Epilobium hirsutum, but may be found also on other species of that genus. The beautiful little daisy clustercup Ae. compositarum, var bellidis, although very plentiful in some districts in the south of England is very rare in the north, and I have but once succeeded in finding it when at Buxton, rambling on Corbar hill, which over looks that charming place. There is another member of this genus which should be looked for now, for it covers a wide range of country and in some districts infests nearly every leaf of the plant. This is Ae. compositarum, var taraxaci upon the well known dandelion. Although so common, generally it is very rare in a wide district surrounding Manchester. I have only twice found it there, on one occasion near Taddington in Derbyshire. The gooseberry clustercup, Ae. Grossulariae will be in perfection now, and where it delights to dwell will be in plenty. It is easily seen on the leaves of the tree, and not infrequently is also found in perfection on the fruit. Occasionally it may be found upon the gooseberries which are bought in the market, and it was one of such gooseberries thus infested which first turned my attention to the study of micro-fungi. There is one other species of this genus which I must not omit to notice, Ae. Aviculariae, which grows upon the smaller knot grass, Polygonum aviculare, one of the most common of our weeds. The conditions under which it is developed must be very peculiar, for it is one of the rarest of all the micro-fungi and has seldom been. found. I was very fortunate in meeting with it in comparative plenty, on one occasion just outside Manchester, on a heap of rubbish of the most uninviting character. Streets and houses now cover this lucky hunting ground, and I have but little hope of meeting with the plant again, but still I don't neglect this rambling weed as I go along in my botanical expeditions, and some fine day it may again come to the front. Amongst the Aecidiacei there are several species which form a separate group under the term Roestelia. Of these, which for the most part don't appear until autumn, there is one which is usually met with in June. It is known as Roestelia lacerata or fringed clustercup. Rust, Smut, Mildew & Mould - M.C.Cooke - Plate 2 Fig. 22,26 It has not the general appearance of the Aecidiacei, but has internal characteristics which connect it with that genus. Although comparatively common it does not frequently arrive at perfection in the districts with which I am familiar, for it is only on one occasion that I was fully satisfied with my gatherings. It grows upon the common Hawthorn, both on the leaves and the fruit. About twelve years ago I met with a leaf-fungus in the Bollin valley, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, which was new to Britain, and not being able to find out what it was I forwarded specimens to Dr. Cooke explaining particulars of locality, &c. The fungus assumed the form of small broken black spots, and the plant upon the leaves of which they were, was the common Butter Bur, or Petasites vulgaris. It was a considerable time before the Doctor gave the plant a name, which he did ultimately in Grevillea, vol. I, p. 40, when he named it Badhamia Capsulifer. Since that time he announced in the same publication, vol. 5, p. 12, that the true name is Physarum tussilaginis. Every year about this time since my first discovery, I have been able to gather any reasonable amount of this fungus in one particular limited district in Cheshire. This district embraces the villages of Wilmslow, Northenden, Gatley, and the valleys in their several localities, and it has been a matter of great astonishment to me that I have never yet heard of any other botanist having found the plant. I have also by means of Science Gossip endeavoured to find out if the fungus had been met with elsewhere, but as yet I have no reply. It is one of the species belonging to the Myxogastres, and is of especial interest at the present time when some of our scientists are claiming for the genus a relationship with the animal kingdom. I would urge botanical students to be on the look out for this interesting fungus. The probability is that it may be found elsewhere, and it will be strange indeed if Cheshire is the only county in England in which the fungus will grow. The Pucciniaei are beginning to be plentiful now, and are most of them very conspicuous by their intense blackness. There is no difficulty in recognising them under the microscope, for they are all composed of two small cells. It is true the cells vary considerably in size, form, and other particulars, some have peduncles or stalks of various lengths, &c., and it is such variations upon which species are determined. The external appearances and habits of the plant also vary considerably. In many cases you find the fungus in minute spots, scattering irregularly and in plenty, on the leaf as in Puccinia compositarum, on Centauria, and many other plants. Rust, Smut, Mildew & Mould - M.C.Cooke - Plate 4 Fig. 67-68 In other cases as in P. Smyrnii there are but a very few such spots, and the fungus is very likely to be overlooked. Rust, Smut, Mildew & Mould - M.C.Cooke - Plate 3 Fig. 55-56 Then we have P. umbilici where the fungus when fully ripe assumes the form of a dark (almost black) patch. Rust, Smut, Mildew & Mould - M.C.Cooke - Plate 4 Fig. 80-81 In the case of P. anemone, on the Wood anemone, we have the black spots of the fungus arranged artistically so as to give beauty to the leaf. Rust, Smut, Mildew & Mould - M.C.Cooke - Plate 4 Fig. 64-65 In the fungus on the Betony, P. betonicae we have a different habit again, the brown spores of the fungus in small quantity first come upon the surface of the leaf by bursting the cuticle, and in the end when the fungus has arrived at perfect maturity, the entire leaf is covered with the smut. Thus the student by the external appearance of the fungus may soon find out the means of identification. The whole of the Puccinia I have named above have been gathered in June. Besides them there are numerous other leaf-fungi to be met with now, but most of them will linger on till next month, when we may make their acquaintance and introduce them to the reader.

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