A LILY DISEASE 163 



phyte, growing on stumps, on the ground, and more 

 especially peat, has been shown by Hartig to be capable 

 of living as a true parasite, proving very destructive to 

 various conifers Abies pectinata, Tsuga merlensiana, Picca 

 sitkaensis, Pinus strobus, and Larix europaea, also Castanea 

 vesca. 



The ascophore forms a thickish crust one to two inches 

 across, almost flat or irregularly undulate or warted, of a 

 dark brown colour, sticky or viscid in rainy weather ; the 

 margin is paler and often irregularly lobed or wavy. There 

 is no stem, but the crust or sporophore is attached to the 

 ground by numerous pale rhizoids or strands of mycelium, 

 which spread in the soil. 



If a section through the sporophore is examined under 

 the microscope, numerous long, cylindrical asci are seen, 

 each containing eight large, pale brown, spindle-shaped 

 spores. 



The root of the tree is the part attacked ; and if the root 

 of a tree killed by the fungus is carefully removed, a dense 

 mass of white mycelium is found surrounding and enclosing 

 the entire root system. No outflow of resin is present. 



PREVENTIVE MEANS. The only thing that can be sug- 

 gested is the collection and destruction of the sporophores 

 of the fungus. 



Hartig and Somerville, Diseases of Trees (Engl. ed.), 

 p. 123, figs. 



TREE MOREL 



(Cyttaria gunnii, Berk.) 



Growing in dense clusters on living branches of the 

 Tasmanian myrtle-tree {Fagus cunninghamii), in the dense 



