FOSSIL FORESTS OF THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. 35 



The most wonderful of all the forests is exposed on a hillside, too 

 steep to support vegetation. The largest tree, which must have been 

 a very king of its race, stands guard on the summit of the hill. It is 

 26}^ feet in circumference and 14 feet in height, with roots as large as 

 the trunks of ordinary trees, imbedded in the solid rock. Just below 

 .this giant are two trees nearly 9 feet in circumference and about 20 

 feet high, the ones shown in our illustration. From this point on the 

 hillside are scattered about hundreds of trunks from i to 8 feet in di- 

 ameter, and from a few inches to twenty feet in height. One of the 

 very largest was prostrated before it was fossilized, and is exposed for 

 over 40 feet. Both ends are concealed, and consequently its length 

 cannot be determined. Almost all of these trees are perfectly pre- 

 served, even to the bark, which in some cases is five inches thick. 



It should not, of course, be supposed that these trees are pre- 

 served entire, that is, with branches and leaves attached. They con- 

 sist only of trunks and roots, but in the rocks all about the trees there 

 are impressions of branches, leaves, and even cones and fruits, that 

 must have belonged to them. By studying these impressions, as well 

 as the beautifully preserved internal structure of the trunks them- 

 selves, a very satisfactory idea may be formed as to the appearance 

 they must have presented while living. Those with the thick bark 

 were conifers like the sequoias, or "big trees," of California, and 

 quite likely were their direct ancestors. Others were like our com- 

 mon trees, that is, such as oaks, chestnuts, beeches, elms, maples, 

 magnolias and lindens. The trunks shown in the plate are coniferous. 

 The only living trees found in the vicinity of the fossil forest are pines 

 and spruces and two kinds of cottonwood, a fact which teaches clearly 

 that the climatic conditions must have changed greatly since these 

 fossil trees were living. 



Dr. S. E. Jelliffe has just published [Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, 24: 

 480.] a list of twenty-eight species of moulds and yeasts found float- 

 ing in the air in his laboratory in New York City. 



The Washington Mycological Club has been organized with a view 

 of bringing together all persons interested scientifically or economi- 

 cally in the study of fungi. The principal objects of the Club are the 

 identification and classification of fungi, particularly the larger and 

 fleshier sorts, and to study the edible species and the noxious and poi- 

 sonous kinds likely to be mistaken for them; to arouse a greater inter- 

 est in, and a wider appreciation of, these plants as a source of food, 

 and to gather and disseminate information regarding edible and in- 

 jurious kinds by means of exhibitions, lectures and publications, and 

 to make a special study of the fungus flora of Washington and vicinity. 



