MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



cypress, and the disease itself called the * peck. ' ' In North 

 Carolina the term " botty " (see Roth 1. c.) is more or less 

 common because of the supposed action of a larva, the 

 * bot. ' ' * 'Peggy ' ' is frequently used in Georgia and Flor- 

 ida, where correspondents also give the term ' puck. ' ' Near 

 pinelands " punk " is used by pine lumbermen, accustomed 

 to the decay caused by Trametes Pini. It is almost useless to 

 speculate as to the origin of the various terms, and a choice 

 between them is difficult. Having found the term < pecky ' ' 

 most widely known as well as the one which was first used, 

 I shall call the disease by that name throughout this paper. 



APPEARANCE OF WOOD. 



The diseased wood appears full of holes (PL 1, fig. 2), 

 varying in width from -J J- inches. These holes are found 

 in the heartwood only, and in trees after they have reached 

 the age of 125 years or thereabouts. Young trees of 

 Taxodium are comparatively rare, but such as were noted, 

 varying in age from 50 to 125 years, were always free from 

 any defect. The holes in the wood extend longitudinally 

 up and down in the trunk, parallel to the wood fibers. The 

 holes never extend transversely. They are separated from 

 one another by layers of wood apparently perfectly sound. 

 They vary in length from } inch to 6 inches, or longer 

 in some cases; most frequently they are 4-5 inches 

 long. They end bluntly at both ends, and as a rule do not 

 communicate. Frequently trees are found in which some 

 holes do open into one another, but these are rather 

 exceptional. The holes are filled with a yellow brown 

 powder which readily crumbles into the finest dust between 

 the fingers. The powdery mass does not completely fill 

 the space, showing that much material has been destroyed. 

 Occasionally the mass is not entirely composed of the 

 powdery substance; stringy fibers, composed of wood cells 

 not yet disintegrated, fill the cavity, together with much 

 finely divided matter. This indicates that the disintegrat- 

 6 



