20 



after the branch has fallen away. In many trees, such as spruce, fir, 

 and some pines, several inches of the base of a branch remain alive and 

 are supplied with nutriment by the parent branch. These keep pace 

 with the increase in the diameter of the trunk until they are healed 

 over. In other trees the pressure of the callus causes the branches to 

 break off, and the wound is soon healed. A dead cedar branch remains 

 visible on the outside for many years. The addition of annual la3'ers 

 of wood on both sides of a branch is such that after some j-ears the 

 stump lies in a hole which has a lens-shaped opening- toward the out- 

 side, and it is in these holes that the fruiting bod}' of the fungus is 

 found. 



The sporophores are often small and are difficult to remove, the 

 shredded bark hiding them. The form of the hole determines the 

 shape of the pileus, the latter being sessile, wedge-shaped, and from 

 i to li inches long and about i an inch in width (PL VII, Hg. 8). If 

 there is sufficient room in the hole the upper part of the pileus is 

 arched forward, so as to form a distinct bracket. The h^^menium 

 is flesh-colored and has numerous very minute spores. Sometimes 

 the fruitinor oro-ans form in the holes within the tree when the holes 

 become exposed to the air. They are then very irregular in shape, 

 adjusting themselves to the form of the hole. In PI. VII, fig. 9, one of 

 the largest found is shown, as are also a number of smaller ones. 

 In two cases the fungus was found fruiting in holes in logs which had 

 been cut and piled. 



The mature spores have not been found, and therefore the systematic 

 position of this form is somewhat in doubt. On account of its flesh- 

 colored hymenium it is regarded as a form of Polyporus carneus 

 Nees — a form found on dead cedar wood, as well as on spruce and fir, 

 in which cases, however, it never brings about the brown rot. Its 

 deformed nature is undoubtedly due to its method of growth, which is 

 not of sufficient value as a distinct specific character, and it is therefore 

 proposed to consider this fungus as a form of Polyporus carneus. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



The funo-i causino- the two diseases described mav be considered 

 wound parasites, which grow in the heartwood of the living trees and 

 thus render the wood unfit for commercial purposes. Frequently the 

 diseased trees are cut and sold for use as an inferior grade of fence 

 posts, although they apparently last almost as long as the sound posts. 

 The natural supply of red cedar still available is very small, hence 

 any remedies which might be suggested in connection with the two 

 diseases must be applicable to trees growing under modern methods 

 of forestry for lumber or for ornament. After a tree has once become 

 affected with either disease, remedies will not avail. 



