28 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
cypress, and the disease itself called the ** peck.’’ In North 
Carolina the term ‘‘ botty ’’ (see Roth 1. c.) is more or less 
common because of the supposed action of a larva, the 
‘‘bot.’’ ‘Peggy’ is frequently used in Georgia and Flor- 
ida, where correspondents also give the term ‘* puck.’’ Near 
pinelands ‘‘ punk ’’ is used by pine lumbermen, accustomed 
to the decay caused by Trametes Pini. It is almost useless to 
speculate as to the origin of the various terms, and a choice 
between them is difficult. Having found the term ‘ pecky ”’ 
most widely known as well as the one which was first used, 
I shall call the disease by that name throughout this paper. 
APPEARANCE OF Woop. 
The diseased wood appears full of holes (PI. 1, fig. 2), 
varying in width from 4-3 inches. These holes are found 
in the heartwood only, and in trees after they have reached 
the age of 125 years or thereabouts. Young trees of 
Taxodium are comparatively rare, but such as were noted, 
varying in age from 50 to 125 years, were always free from 
any defect. The holes in the wood extend longitudinally 
up and down in the trunk, parallel to the wood fibers. The 
holes never extend transversely. They are separated from 
one another by layers of wood apparently perfectly sound. 
They vary in length from } inch to 6 inches, or longer 
in some cases; most frequently they are 4—5 inches 
long. They end bluntly at both ends, and as a rule do not 
communicate. Frequently trees are found in which some 
holes do open into one another, but these are rather 
exceptional. The holes are filled with a yellow brown 
powder which readily crumbles into the finest dust between 
the fingers. The powdery mass does not completely fill 
the space, showing that much material has been destroyed. 
Occasionally the mass is not entirely composed of the 
powdery substance; stringy fibers, composed of wood cells 
not yet disintegrated, fill the cavity, together with much 
finely divided matter. This indicates that the disintegrat- 
6 
