TIMBER FUNGI. 201 



TIMBER FUNGI, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 



PINES. 



CARLOS G. BATES, WITH U. S. FOREST SERVICE. 



The subject of timber fungi, if treated exhaustively, would involve 

 a discussion of a very large portion of the genera of that group of 

 unrelated plants which come under the caption of "fungi." Our ignorance 

 of this group, the small amount of time at our disposal, and the limited 

 time for the treatment of such a paper in this place, make such a dis- 

 cussion altogether unwarranted. I propose to treat the subject, therefore, 

 from the standpoint of the forester, who sees such things in their 

 practical bearing, rather than from the standpoint of the more scientific 

 botanist. 



Under the head of timber fungi may well be considered all of the 

 parasitic and saprophytic plants which attack the tree as it grows in 

 the forest or elsewhere, the standing or fallen dead tree, and the wood 

 as it is found in innumerable forms moulded by man. All of these 

 come up for the forester's consideration, though the most important, and 

 those which receive the most attention, are the fungi which act directly 

 on the forest crop, the logs in the woods and the lumber and other 

 woody products from these logs. In this connection it might be well 

 to state that, so far as certain fungi are concerned, there is no difference 

 between the trunk of a live tree and an unseasoned log lying in the 

 woods. The life histories of some of the fungi will bear out this 

 statement. 



Since all of the fungi which attack trees and wood cannot be even 

 mentioned here, I propose to enumerate only a few of the most common 

 enemies of the genus Pimis which have come to the notice of European 

 and American botanists and foresters. The pines, of which there are 

 about 75 species, all of the northern hemisphere, present considerable 

 differences in the structure of their several woods, have a wide geographic 

 and climatic range, and are altogether the most important trees of the 

 commercial world, so that their study cannot be considered anything 

 but profitable. The habits of their enemies are characteristic of timber 

 fungi in general. 



(1) Damping-off. 



When pine and other seedlings first appear above the ground, they 

 are subject to the attacks of a number of fungi which make themselves 

 felt as a disease which is known as "damping-off." The symptoms of 

 the disease are a wilting of the leaves and decay of the stem of the plant 

 just at the level of the ground, so that the afflicted seedling is soon 

 prostrated. "The fungus seems to live in the sand in which the seedlings 



