Eelworm Galls Mistaken for Ergot in Flowers of Canadian Grasses

Abstract

SPECIMENS of the grasses Arctagrostis latifolia (R. Br.) Griseb. and Dupontia fisheri R. Br. collected within the past two or three years on Southampton Island and at Chesterfield Inlet, North West Territory, in the far north of Canada, were found by Dr. W. G. Dore and Dr. D. B. O. Savile of the Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, to possess eelworm galls in the flowers, and were sent to me for identification of the causal eelworm. In one of his letters, Dr. Savile directed attention to the fact that Linder¹ had recorded ergot, Claviceps purpurea, on Arctagrostis latifolia from Southampton Island and Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, and on Dupontia fisheri from Chesterfield Inlet, N.W.T. He stated that he himself knew of ergot only on Elymus arenarius of the grasses in northern Canada, and suggested that, if the grasses in which Linder claimed to have found ergot were re-examined, it would probably be discovered that the structures taken for ergot were, in fact, galls due to eelworms.