June 4, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



913 



were collected in heads of Volunteer rye, and of 

 roadside timothy in Noble County, Ind. August 

 20, 1907, sclerotia on Daotylis glomerata were 

 collected at Ithaca, N. Y., and, on August 23, on 

 Festuca elatior. On the latter date these collec- 

 tions of sclerotia were encased separately in ordi- 

 nary wire screening and placed on the ground 

 under a grape arbor to mature. April 6, 1908, all 

 were brought to the laboratory and placed on moist 

 sand in a covered stender dish. April 18, 1908, a 

 few sclerotia in all dishes were found with devel- 

 oping stromata. At this time the stromata on 

 timothy were further advanced and were very 

 evidently different. Stromata from ergot on rye 

 had mature perithecia about May 1, while those 

 on Dactylis and Festuca elatior were mature May 

 6. May 23 all had fruited and gone. 



The Claviceps on rye, Dactylis and Festuca all 

 belong to the same species, at least morpholog- 

 ically, i. e., C. purpurea Tul. A few sclerotia on 

 Phleum unmistakably developed typical G. pur- 

 purea; most of them developed a Claviceps with 

 much smaller stromata which are of an entirely 

 different color, have fewer and more prominent 

 perithecia, and these contain smaller spores. It 

 seems to be an undescribed species. Careful search 

 was made in June, 1908, for the sphacelial stage 

 in the type locality but it was not found. 



Some Little-known Diseases of Conifers found 

 in Connection with a Disease Survey of our 

 Western Forests: Geokge Geant Hedgcock, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Was;hington, 

 D. 0. 



The disease survey of our western forests which 

 is now being conducted by the Laboratory of For- 

 est Pathology, although it has not passed the 

 preliminary stage, has brought forth some inter- 

 esting data concerning a number of wood-rotting 

 fungi which may be properly classed as wound 

 parasites. These cause great losses to the country 

 by diminishing to a very considerable extent the 

 available supply of mature timber. They do not 

 occur uniformly in any given forest, but abound 

 in certain favorable environmental conditions. 



Fchinodontium tinctorium is the cause of a 

 destructive heart rot of living trees belonging to a 

 number of species. It attacks the following spe- 

 cies: Aties noiilis Lindl., A. concolor (Gord.) 

 Parry, A. grandis Lindl., A. lasiocarpa (Hook) 

 Nutt., Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sargent and 

 Picea Engelmanni Engelm. In a few localities as 

 high as sixty per cent, of AMes and nearly one 

 hundred per cent, of Tsuga have been reported 

 diseased by this fimgus. The fungus usually 



enters the heart wood of the trees attacked either 

 through a broken limb, fire scars or other wound. 

 The mycelium evidently secretes a solvent for 

 wood fibers, since they are often entirely dissolved 

 in the later stages of the rot produced by the 

 disease. The sporophores contain a red pigment 

 which is especially characteristic of this species. 

 This is used by the Indians for making paint for 

 facial decorations, etc. The red coloring matter 

 in the pigment is insoluble in the ordinary sol- 

 vents, with the exception of the alcohols, which 

 apparently dissolve out a yellow color. 



Fames laricis attacks the heart wood of a num- 

 ber of species of conifers. The fungus gains en- 

 trance into the heart wood in the same manner 

 as Eohinodontium. It has been found on the fol- 

 lowing species: Finus ponderosa Laws., P. Mur- 

 rayana " Oreg. Com.," P. Lamlertiana Dougl., 

 Larix occidentalis ISTutt. and Pseudotsuga taxi- 

 folia (Lam.) Britton. The effect of this fungus 

 on the heart wood of trees is somewhat different 

 from that of Eohinodontium j it does not so com- 

 pletely dissolve the wood fibers, but apparently 

 carbonizes them, causing the wood to break up 

 into blocks or rectangular pieces. Large sheets 

 of punk or tinder are formed by the mycelium 

 adjacent to sporophores in later stages of the dis- 

 ease. The decayed wood is of a red-brown color, 

 resembling very much that produced by Fomes 

 pinicola ( Sw. ) Gill., which is frequently the cause 

 of a sap-rot of mature conifers, but is rarely found 

 fruiting on living trees. Fomes laricis usually 

 forms sporophores on living trees, but may in case 

 of very large trees consume the heart wood for 

 years before it brings forth fruiting bodies. The 

 white chalky sporophores are often of very great 

 size. They have been powdered and used as a 

 medicine in Europe for ages, and owing to the 

 bitter taste of the substance of which they are 

 composed, have been designated as the " quinine 

 fungus." 



Several other wood-rotting fungi of lesser im- 

 portance have been found in various localities, a 

 study of which will be undertaken later. In our 

 disease survey work the investigation of such 

 problems is not confined to the immediate study 

 of the parasite, its effect on the host and remedial 

 and preventative methods. It is our purpose in 

 the future to collect data upon the conditions in 

 the forest which make the trees of certain areas 

 more subject to disease than those of others in 

 the same locality. This involves a study of the 

 physical conditions of those localities where dis- 

 ease is prevalent in order to find out how they 



