﻿Ill] 
  Special 
  Report 
  No. 
  9 
  : 
  Fungi 
  333 
  

  

  quite 
  a 
  woody 
  or 
  corky 
  texture, 
  often 
  very 
  hard. 
  Many 
  of 
  these 
  

   latter 
  ones 
  live 
  from 
  year 
  to 
  year 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  perennial. 
  

  

  This 
  article 
  is 
  written 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  calling 
  the 
  attention 
  

   of 
  those 
  who 
  frequent 
  the 
  forest, 
  either 
  from 
  a 
  professional 
  or 
  

   from 
  a 
  pleasure 
  point 
  of 
  view, 
  to 
  these 
  enemies 
  of 
  the 
  forest. 
  

   There 
  are 
  many 
  problems 
  of 
  interest 
  and 
  importance 
  presented 
  by 
  

   the 
  relation 
  of 
  these 
  plants 
  to 
  the 
  timber 
  trees. 
  A 
  few 
  of 
  

   these 
  problems 
  are 
  suggested 
  by 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  several 
  of 
  

   these 
  plants. 
  

  

  Polyporus 
  borealis 
  Plate 
  56 
  

  

  Occurrence 
  and 
  distribution. 
  — 
  The 
  first 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  plants 
  to 
  

   which 
  attention 
  is 
  called 
  here 
  is 
  very 
  active 
  in 
  causing 
  one 
  kind 
  

   of 
  heart 
  rot 
  of 
  coniferous 
  trees, 
  especially 
  the 
  spruces, 
  pines, 
  

   balsams, 
  hemlocks, 
  etc. 
  It 
  is 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Polyporus 
  borealis. 
  

   It 
  has 
  a 
  very 
  wide 
  distribution 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  in 
  

   America, 
  but 
  probably 
  in 
  other 
  countries 
  as 
  well. 
  A 
  photograph 
  

   of 
  this 
  fungus 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  living 
  hemlock 
  tree 
  is 
  shown 
  in 
  Plate 
  

   56. 
  This 
  tree 
  occurred 
  in 
  oneor 
  the 
  deep 
  wooded 
  ravines 
  at 
  Ithaca, 
  

   N. 
  Y., 
  along 
  one 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Campus 
  of 
  Cornell 
  University. 
  

  

  Char'acters 
  . 
  — 
  The 
  fungus 
  is 
  white 
  and 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  bracket 
  kind. 
  

   As 
  can 
  be 
  seen, 
  there 
  are 
  several 
  brackets 
  growing 
  very 
  closely 
  

   together 
  overlapping 
  each 
  other. 
  The 
  bracket 
  is 
  the 
  "fruit 
  

   body." 
  While 
  these 
  plants 
  have 
  no 
  fruit 
  in 
  the 
  sense 
  that 
  the 
  

   higher 
  plants 
  do, 
  yet 
  they 
  produce 
  countless 
  tiny 
  bodies, 
  called 
  

   spores, 
  so 
  minute 
  that 
  we 
  cannot 
  see 
  them 
  except 
  with 
  the 
  aid 
  

   of 
  a 
  microscope, 
  or 
  unless 
  there 
  are 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  them 
  

   massed 
  together. 
  These 
  spores 
  are 
  capable 
  of 
  starting 
  a 
  new 
  

   growth 
  of 
  the 
  fungus. 
  They 
  are 
  borne 
  on 
  the 
  under 
  side 
  of 
  

   the 
  fungus, 
  in 
  minute 
  pores 
  or 
  tubes 
  which 
  are 
  so 
  numerous 
  

   that 
  the 
  under 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  bracket 
  reminds 
  one 
  of 
  a 
  honey- 
  

   comb 
  structure. 
  The 
  upper 
  side 
  is 
  hairy 
  with 
  coarse 
  strands 
  

   which 
  bristle 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  surface. 
  It 
  is 
  rather 
  soft 
  and 
  spongy. 
  

  

  How 
  nourished. 
  — 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  of 
  interest 
  to 
  know 
  how 
  such 
  a 
  

   fungus 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  living 
  tree 
  obtains 
  its 
  food 
  from 
  the 
  tree, 
  

   and 
  also 
  how 
  it 
  is 
  enabled 
  to 
  cause 
  the 
  decay 
  of 
  the 
  heart 
  wood. 
  

   In 
  the 
  first 
  place 
  the 
  fungus 
  is 
  growing 
  from 
  quite 
  a 
  large 
  

   wound 
  in 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  tree. 
  The 
  tree 
  has 
  been 
  trying 
  to 
  

   heal 
  over 
  the 
  wound 
  for 
  years 
  but 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  successful, 
  

   for 
  the 
  wound 
  is 
  a 
  large 
  one. 
  The 
  healing 
  process, 
  however, 
  

  

  