BIRCH TREES IN EPPING FOREST AND ELSEWHERE. 



277 



others. Sections, longitudinal and transverse, have been made 

 of the roots, stems, and branches. Between the bark and wood 

 at the base of the stem of the dead specimen, there is a small 

 quantity of felt, formed of the hyphal threads of a Basidiomycete 

 These threads have developed in a damp atmosphere, and show 

 the characteristic clamp connections so common in that Sub- 

 Class ; but the most striking feature of the specimens is the 



Fig. 3. Tree No. 3. Completely dead. Lord's Bushes. 23r(l June, igoo. 



almost entire absence of the hyphae of Agarics or Polypovi. The 

 wood of the branches, as they decay, exhibits a dark brown 

 coloration and where the branch is attacked on one side only, 

 which is often the case, the contrast with the wood on the other 

 side is very marked. See figs. 4 and 5. 



The specimen exhibiting a forked branch. Fig. 6, one side of 

 which is badly attacked and the other only slightly so, is a 



