8 TIMBER ROT CAUSED BY LENZITES SEPIARIA. 



adequately considers the decay caused by Lenzites sepiaria.'' Practi- 

 cally all the literature concerning this species and the timber rot caused 

 by it consists of short notes on occurrence and short paragraphs upon 

 the damage caused. 



ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF LENZITES SEPIARIA. 



The damage inflicted in America alone by Lenzites sepiaria is 

 enormous. This fungus, together with several others, destroys a 

 large proportion of all untreated coniferous railroad ties and telegraph 

 and telephone poles which are in service in the country. Probably 

 one-fourth of this damage is done by Lenzites sepiaria. 



The valuation of the railroad ties and telegraph and telephone poles 

 furnished by the coniferous species of trees in 1908^ was in round 

 numbers $32,500,000. If the above estimate of damage done by 

 Lenzites sepiaria is anywhere near correct, this would mean that 

 timber worth about $8,000,000 annually has its length of service 

 seriously shortened by this fungus. Under present methods of 

 American railroading it is probable that an average length of service 

 of an unrotted coniferous tie would scarcely be more than 12 to 15 

 years — that is, the tie will be worn out by the end of this period. 

 The actual average service of untreated coniferous ties can hardly be 

 placed at more than 5 to 8 years. Thus, we find the wood-rottmg fungi 

 practically diminishing the service of this timber by one-half. More- 

 over, there are vast quantities of timber in the form of pilmg, bridge 

 timbers, trestles, sidewalks, fence posts, etc., which are also destroyed 

 by this fungus. • 



DISTRIBUTION AND HOST WOODS OF LENZITES SEPIARIA. 



[The location of certain cabinet specimens is indicated by arbitrary signs as follows: (*), In the herbarium 

 of Iho Missouri Botanical Garden; (t), in the pathological collections of the Bureau of Plant Industry; 

 (t), in the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden; (S), in the crjiJtogamic herliarium at Harvard 

 University; (||, with niunber), in the forest pathological field collociion; (V, hi the private herliarium 

 of E. T. Harper; (**), in the herbarium of the New York State Museum; (ft), in the Frost Herbarium at 

 the University of Vermont; (tJ), in the herljarium of the University of Wisconsin.] 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. 



The Fungus in Foreign Countries. 



Lenzites sepiaria has been reixn-ted from and collected in the 

 following countries : 



KUKOPE. 



England: Berkeley (1836, 1860), Conke (1871, 188:5, 1888-1890), Smith (1891), Sowerby 



(1814), Stevenson (1886). 

 Norway: Blytt (1905), Fries (1849), Karsten (1882). 



a Since this manuseript was prepared the writer has first seen Falck's Die Lenzites- 

 faule des Coniferenholzes, issued as part 3 in ]\I6ller's Hausschwammforschungen, 

 1909. 



b Bureau of the Census, Forest Products, vol. 10, pp. 66-67, 107, 1909. 



214 



