388 DISEASES OF CULTIVATED PLANTS 



attached by a broad base, or narrowed behind and substipi- 

 tate, dark blood-red, fleshy and soft, flesh streaked, tubes 

 short, closed at first, pallid, then reddish, spores elliptical, 

 5-6 X 3-4 /*. Conidia 6-10x5 /* are produced in the flesh of 

 the pileus. 



Popularly known as the beef-steak fungus, as a section of 

 the pileus is red and streaked like raw beef. The plant 

 when growing resembles large overlapping flaps of liver in 

 colour, hence the specific name. Large, 4-12 in. across. 

 One mass weighed just over forty pounds. Edible, but, like 

 beef, is better for hanging for a couple of days before cooking. 



HYDNACEAE 



Sporophore pileate and stipitate, dimidiate, hymenium borne 

 on crowded, awl-shaped spines. 



HYDNUM (L.) 



Hymenium inferior in pileate species, superior in resupi- 

 nate forms, hymenium borne on spines that remain free from 

 each other at the base. 



Apple-tree Hydnum (Hydnum scheidermayeri, Heufler) 

 is stated by Thiimen to be a destructive parasite, attacking 

 more especially apple-trees. The fungus is rare in this country. 

 I have only found one specimen, which was growing in the 

 hollow trunk of a crab-tree in the New Forest. It is a wound- 

 parasite, and forms a dense mass of mycelium under the bark, 

 often by this means completely ringing the tree ; in other 

 instances the wood is completely destroyed and cavities are 

 formed. In the case of the crab-tree mentioned above, the 

 hollow appeared as if it had been formed by the fungus. The 

 dead wood was thoroughly disorganised and readily crumbled 

 to powder when rubbed between the fingers. Wood that 

 contains mycelium becomes yellowish-green in colour. The 

 sporophores of the fungus either burst through the dead bark 

 or grow in the hollow produced by the fungus, and are 

 recognised among species of Hydnum by the spicy smell of 

 aniseed exhaled on being broken. 



Sporophore yellow, becoming tinged pinkish or brown ; 

 flesh yellow; fleshy, broadly effused, producing knobs or 



