232 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



7-8 EDWARD VII., A. 1908 



DIVISION OF BOTANY 



A NOETHWEST TUCKAHOE. 



From time to time farmers in Manitoba and the Xorthwest plongli iip in tlieir 

 fields large black irregular balls of an india-rubber-like substance which always give 

 rise to much curiosity, and many have been received for report. These when received 

 had usually been out of the ground for a considerable time and were hard and almost 

 stone-like in consistency. Last summer, through the courtesy of the Fanner s Advo- 

 cate and of the Winnipeg Free Press, a request was published for fresh material, and 

 several correspondents sent me specimens. When received they were of a firm 

 elastic consistency like india-rubber and, as stated by Prof. Farlow, of Cambridge, 

 Mass., were evidently the sclerotia of some fungus, probably a Polyporus. These ob- 

 jects were of a somewhat spherical shape, varying, from 3 to 9 inches in diameter and 

 weighing from 1 to 7 pounds. The outside was smooth and black; the inside very 

 dark olive-black and the substance granulated by reason of the ramifications of my- 

 celial threads. Most of them also contained in the substance, coarse grains of sand. 

 All showed traces of having been at some time attached to the roots of shrubs or trrjos. 

 One specimen surrounded a piece of poplar wood, showing the bark plainly. From this 

 and from available evidence, it would appear that the fungus is at first parasitic on 

 poplars and perhaps willows. In July, 1906, I received from the West, three of the 

 large sclerotia or fungous masses in a fresh condition, and these were buried in the 

 earth about H inches beneath the surface. On July 3, 1907, I had the great satisfac- 

 tion of finding tv.'o fleshy toadstools, yellowish-white above, white beneath, of a 

 species of Polyporus, which so far I have not had identified. Mr. F. T. Shutt has 

 kindly made the excellent photograph which I give herewith, showing one of the load- 

 stools attached to the sclerotium. Owing to the great interest which has been evinced 

 in this matter by western farmers, I publish this preliminary note. 



Prof. Roland Thaxter, of Cambridge, Mass., who had planted last year one of the 

 sclerotia for Dr. Farlow. to whom I had sent it, writes under date of July 18, 1907: — 



' A week or two ago the sclerotium which Dr. Farlow j-ave me and which I planted' 

 two years ag,o, fruited as yours has done. I sent the Polyporus directly to Dr. Farlow 

 who recognized it as a European species which I believe he had not seen before. It 

 is a beautiful thing and I think he will no doubt write you further concerning it.' 



Dr. Farlow tells me that this Northwest fungus is most nearly allied with ihe 

 Southern Tuckahoe or 'Indian Bread' upon which an article appeared, by J. IT. 

 Gore, in the Smithsonian Institution Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. XXV., 1883. 



I have no knowledge of this fungus having been used for food, and, owing to the 

 large amount "of sand and grit sometimes inclosed, it could probably hardly ibe used. 

 It is tasteless when masticated raw. In one of the extracts given below from some of 

 the letters received, it is spoken of as having been used by the Indians for medicinal 

 purposes. 



Winnipeg. April 25, 1903. — ' Under a separate cover I mail you a curious ball of 

 rubbery substance 7 inches in diameter, found about 1.5 miles northeast of Winnipeg, 

 at Moose Xose — part of Birds Hill. This has hardened since found last summer. Will 

 you please tell me what it is; its nature, name, and composition. Also refer nie to any 

 printed matter about similar formations.' — Howard T. Irvine. 



Cromwell. Man., May 7, 1900. — '' I notice a letter of yours regarding a black ball- 

 like fungus ploughed up in parts of Manitoba. I ploughed up several last sunnner. 



