Hyphomycetes and Rotting of Timber. A. Lorrain Smith. 55 



than that affected by dry-rot) formed part of a beam built 

 into the wall behind a shutter. It was very dark brown in 

 colour and extremely friable and dry, breaking easily into 

 debris. There were blacked portions in channels and patches 

 suggesting the presence of insects but no trace of these could 

 be found, the fragments in question were minute portions 

 of disintegrated woody tissue traversed and tangled by brown 

 mycelium. The mycelium travelled between the woody cells 

 and did not specially affect the medullary rays. Inside one 

 of the split portions of the wood I was fortunate enough to 

 find the fructifications of a Hyphomycete, the conidiophore 

 of which bore a striking resemblance to the mycelium that 

 was found traversing the wood. It was a Haplographiuni 

 with a very dark, long, stout stalk, penicillioid branching 

 at the tips, and bearing chains of innumerable minute 

 colourless spores massed into heads. One of these measured 

 about jOfi across, another of ovoid form about 200/-1 x lOO//. 

 The spores are extremely small, subglobose or ovoid, 

 and measure about i/x in diam. or 2// x i//. It 

 resembles most nearly ^Haplographiuni finitimuni Sacc, 

 though the spores are somewhat smaller than in that species. 

 There were on the stalk small swellings where a previous 

 apical head or a lateral head had been borne. Cultures on 

 a glucose-agar medium were attempted but without success : 

 the fungus had evidently lost viability. 



There was also associated with the Haplographiuni a species 

 of Verticillium, brownish in colour and with colourless or 

 brownish spores about 2.3/XX2/X probably a form of V. 

 tcnuissimum Corda. It evidently aided in the work of 

 disintegration, though the Haplographium is the principal 

 agent. 



It is a commonplace of mycology that the abundant 

 hyphomycetous flora of our woodlands assists in the break- 

 ing up of plant debris, and the above instances are examples 

 of this action. The fungi were probably present on the 

 beams when placed in position and favourable conditions 

 of moisture, etc., encouraged their continued growth, result- 

 ing in the slow destruction of the timber. 



*Trans. III., p. 36 (pi. i, fig. 4), 1908. 



