THE CINNABAR FUNGUS. 



{Polystictus cinnabarinus .) 



To the lover of nature a trip through 

 an open forest is one of the most enjoy- 

 able forms of recreation. The trees are 

 beautiful with their graceful branches 

 and their varying foliage, and in early 

 spring here and there one may find a 

 tree that is favored with lovely blossoms. 

 Nearer the ground the forests do not 

 lose their attractiveness and are even 

 more interesting to the student, for here 

 are found the flowering herbaceous plants 

 and many of the lower forms of plant 

 life. Even the fallen tree trunks and old 

 stumps — dead and decaying — are beauti- 

 fied by living green mosses, gray and 

 brownish lichens and varicolored fungi. 



Not the least interesting of all these 

 growths of the forest are the fungi which 

 grow only upon decaying wood. Some 

 of these forms are edible and all are 

 useful for ''they begin the task in Na- 

 ture's laboratory of changing decaying 

 wood intO' assimilable shape as food to 

 feed the very trees that dropped it." 



The fungus which we illustrate fPoly- 

 stictiis cinnabarinus) is not uncommon 

 on 'decaying portions of oak, basswood, 

 cherrv and other trees of the woods of 



many localities. It was given its specific 

 name because of its brilliant cinnabar 

 color by which it may be recognized at 

 quite a distance. Dr. W. S. MoiTatt says 

 that over one hundred specimens were 

 found growing on a log in the woods 

 not far from Chicago. 



This species belongs to a large and 

 interesting group of the fungi — the fam- 

 ily. Polyporacese which includes fleshy, 

 leathery or woody forms. Dr. Charles 

 IMcIlvaine says : '^Within this large fam- 

 ily are found edible speoies. In the 

 woody species the razor-strop man finds 

 material for his strops ; the surgeon 

 styptics ; the peasant, punk to catch sparks 

 from his flint, and the Fourth of 

 July urchin a fire-holder tO' light his 

 pyrotechnics. The Chinese have placed 

 some species in their fathomless materia 

 medica, while the Polyporus of the locust 

 tree is used in America as a medicine 

 for horses. No fungoid growth is more 

 universal. They are the ever active 

 "preservers of our trees and converters O'^ 

 fore^^t debris." The species illustrated 

 is leathery, and no edible species of its 

 genus have been reported. 



HAIL PROCREANT SUN. 



Hail, procreant Sun ! 



Emerge from the enclosed sea. 



Where all the bright days to be 



Lie dormant, with broad wing furled. 



Hail, procreant Sun ! 



Awake every wild flower and tree, 



Bid welcome to joyous bird-world. 



Hail, procreant Sun ! 



— C. Leon Brumbaugh. 



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