[Crown Copyright Reserved | 
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW. 
BULLETIN 
OF 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
No. 6] [1922 
XXVIIL—A HOST LIST OF THE POLYPOREAE 
OCCURRING IN THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
PauuL A. VAN DE BIJL, 
Professor of Phytopathology and Mycology, University of 
Stellenbosch. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The Polyporeae are of considerable economic importance to 
all concerned either with the care of forests or with the timber 
trade. Several parasitic and semiparasitic species are respons- 
ible for the decay of valuable timber trees, and even those which 
are purely saprophytic often cause serious loss by inducing the 
decay of sleepers and posts. peat 
Several of the species of Polyporeae are of wide distribution, 
and one object in publishing this list is to add to our knowledge 
of the hosts on which they occur. 
In taking up the study of these fungi and of the damage they 
cause it was essential to have them correctly identified, and in 
this connection I am indebted to Mr. C. G. Lloyd for much kind 
assistance. 
When I started on the subject some five years ago the number 
of species to be found in any herbarium or mycological institution 
in South Africa was small, and these were not determined wit 
any degree of certainty. With the cooperation of friends and 
especially officers of the Forestry Department, who collected 
for me in various parts of the Union, our knowledge of the species 
of Polyporeae occurring in the Union has been considerably 
increased. Mr. J. D. Keet, of the Forestry Department, took = 
especial keen interest in the subject, first in the King William’s 
Own conservancy and subsequently in the Knysna conservancy, — 
and we are indebted to him for bringing to light a large number 
of species not previously recorded from the Union. 
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