202 Forestry Qua/rterly. 



The only certain fact is that they were quite badly affected four 

 years ago. 



The appearance of the material sent us is the same as any that 

 might be collected from diseased trees in the affected areas of 

 the East. There are the same pustules and cankers, and under 

 the bark the same characteristic mycelial fans. Photographs like- 

 wise show that there is the same tendency to produce - water 

 sprouts below the killed portions of the trees. The pycnospores 

 in respect to color, form, and size coincide with those of the true 

 blight-fungus. No perithecia have been found, and if present at 

 all are not abundant. 



Cultures were made on various media. Their characters' are 

 those of Bndothia parasitica. The cultures on potato agar were 

 compared side by side with those of the blight fungus obtained 

 from Pennsylvania, and they were found to be alike. For pur- 

 poses of identification of the Endothias', potato agar cultures have 

 been pronounced by the Andersons and by Shear and Stevens 

 to be the most distinctive. The latter emphasize one feature of 

 tube cultures as being especially characteristic of the blight fungus, 

 namely a peculiar brassy appearance in the lower part of the 

 tube. They state that "this metallic appearance has been found 

 to be the most constant and reliable distinguishing character of 

 B. parasitica," as it never occurs in the case of closely related 

 species. t 



We have found, as stated above, that the potato agar cultures 

 of the British Columbia fungus are indistinguishable from the 

 Pennsylvania material grown alongside, even to this metallic ap- 

 pearance by reflected light. We are further permitted to state 

 that Dr. P. J. Anderson has confirmed our observations. Under 

 date of October 13 he writes, "Your cultures from British Co- 

 lumbia grow like typical Bndothia parasitica up to the present," 

 and under date of October 25, "I have cultivated on potato agar 

 the form from British Columbia, and the regular strains from 

 Pennsylvania, and cannot tell the difference between them." It 



t Anderson, P. J., and Anderson, H. W., "The Chestnut-blight Fungus 

 and a Related Saprophyte," Phytopathology, II, 1912. pp. 204-10, and 

 Bull. 4, Penna. Chestnut Tree Blight Commission, 1913. Shear and Ste- 

 vens, "Cultural Characters of the Chestnut-blight Fungus and its near 

 Relatives," Cir. 131, pp. 1-18, Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C, 

 1913. 



