426 Crossland : Fungus Foray at Helmsley. 



ing vitality. We noticed several of these actively at work in 

 this direction. Not far away from each other were Armillaria 

 mucida, Fomes fomentarms, and Bulgaria polymorpha, all on 

 separate living beeches ; the first and last were pushing- out 

 their fructification through the bark all round the trees for 

 a distance of 20 to 30 feet up the trunks, presumably following 

 the cambium layer. These sporophores are allowed to ripen 

 and produce myriads of spores, which will be distributed by 

 wind, insect, or other agency, and infect other trees if perchance 

 the spores alight in a wound or crack in the bark, or on the 

 unprotected end of a broken branch. One living beech was 

 attacked by a Pleiirotiis on one side and Fomes fomentarius on 

 the other. Armillaria 77iellea is also at work, and in the park 

 Pholiota squarrosa is attacking many of the fine ashes in great 

 force. Other tree diseases seen in the district and more or less 

 plentiful were Fomes annosus, on pine stumps ; F. igniarius, on 

 plum and other trees ; Polyporus hispidus on ash trees in hedge- 

 rows ; Polyporus hetnlinus, on birches ; Fistiilina hepatica, on 

 oaks ; Hirneola auricula-Judcs, on elder (in one place only, 

 between Rievaulx and Duncombe Park) ; and Nectria cinna- 

 barina, on young horse-chestnut. The latter had killed a nine 

 or ten years old tree, the end one in a row planted by the beck 

 side in High Street, February 1898; the next one above is also 

 affected and doomed ; the disease appears in the form of ' bright 

 coral-like warts about the size of a millet seed ' thickly studding 

 the surface of the bark; this fungus also flourishes freely on 

 both living and dead branches of beech, sycamore, lime, etc. 

 Beech appears to be its favourite host or habitat. Exoascus 

 deformans was noted on plum trees. 



One feature of the meadows and pastures was the immense 

 quantity of Hygrophoriis sp., notably, niveus, pratensis, and 

 puniceus, the latter occasionally four to five inches across, an 

 unusual size. As will be seen by the list, many others of this 

 genus were noted ; eburneus was common in the woods ; a few 

 specimens of sciophanus were found in the ' common ' pasture 

 south of the town. Hygrophorus melizeiis, a well-marked, straw-- 

 coloured, thin species, brought by Philip, Sheppard, and party 

 from Rievaulx, constitutes a new British record. Marasmius 

 lagopimis, picked up by Needham and Thwaites, is also new to 

 Britain. 



A deep-blue Entoloma, collected by John Farrah from near 

 the temple on the terrace overlooking Rievaulx Abbe}', proves 

 to be new to science. On a casual examination it was taken to 



Naturalist, 



