| Author | Vánky, K. |
| Year | 1994 |
| Title | European Smut Fungi |
| ISBN | 3-437-30745-2 |
| Type | Book/Report |
| How Complete | All the European species known at the time |
| Source | 570pp, Gustav Fischer Verlag |
| Illustrations | Pencil drawings of infected plants, half-tone light and SEM photomicrography |
| Review (by Malcolm Storey) | A beautifully-produced and highly detailed account of this large group of obligate plant parasites. Keys to genera, then the genera are treated in alphabetical order. Each genus has a key to species, species accounts and illustrations. The species accounts, in alphabetical order within the genus, decribe the infection, the spores, the germination (now an important taxonomic character), the host range and distribution. The illustrations include a pencil drawing of the infected host, and half-tone light and SEM photomicrographs of spores. Finally an extensive host index includes a few non-flowering plants (eg Sphagnum) and greenhouse exotics (eg Welwitschia!!) This is a group that has been much studied in Europe, but rather neglected in Britain, so a good number of new records is to be expected. |
| Errata, Corrigenda & Comments | The convention used in the line drawings whereby the infection is always showed in black can be misleading in those species (eg *Melanustilospora ari*) where the infection is not dark coloured. The site of infection is not always obvious in the whole plant sketches, especially where the smut is confined to the floral parts. |
| Examine |  Compound Microscope |
| Specimen Preparation | Microscopic examination of spores generally required. |
| Identification difficulty | Usually straightforward if the host plant is known, very difficult otherwise. |
