57 



The position of the tree indicated that the sporophores did 

 not simply grow into the sand and the hyphae thus grow around 

 the sand particles, since the various stages were found just as 

 readily upon the upper side of the trunk as on the lower, and 

 the general appearance of the tree indicated that the position 

 had not changed since the sporophores had formed. However, 

 it is entirely possible that the shifting sands of the beach had 

 covered the tree while the sporophores were forming, the hyphae 

 thus possibly intertwining among the sand particles. Shifting 

 of the sands with consequential reexposure of the host, would 

 account for the sandy fruiting bodies on all sides of the tree. 



Fig. 2. View of a single sandy sporopliore of Fames pinicola. 



The species of the tree was rather difficult to determine. The 

 ecology of the immediate region aided somewhat in a possible 

 identification. Within the memory of man, the vicinity had 

 reached the pine-forest stage, but the recent rapid rise of Lake 

 Superior probably caused rapid erosion of the beach. Tem- 

 porary cessation of erosion, with the formation of dunes through 

 the agency of Ammophila arenaria and Hudsonia tomentosa, 

 both of which were abundant, probably caused the invasion of 



