AN INTERESTING GROUP OF FUNGI. 



Among the common fungi which 

 attract a pedestrian during his rambles 

 through a forest, there is one group 

 which has been given the name Polystic- 

 tns by the scientist. This is a genus of 

 bracket-hke species which are leathery, 

 woody or membranous from the very 

 beginning of their growth. They are 

 pore- fungi ; that is, the fruiting spores 

 are borne on the inner faces of tubes or 

 pores which form a single layer on the 

 underside of the bracket. These tubes 

 usually appear first near the center of the 

 bracket and gradually develop toward its 

 circumference. It thus happens that 

 while the tubes near the periphery of the 

 plant are scarcely tubes at all, but mere 

 dots or shallow excavations, the older 

 ones toward the center are developed into 

 definite tubular forms and may be quite 

 long. All of these fruiting-tubes grow 

 at right angles to the under surface of 

 the bracket, and their mouths normally 

 point toward the earth. One frequently 

 finds a fallen trunk upon which some of 

 the plants have their tube surface paral- 

 lel to the earth's surface, and others at 

 right angles tO' it. In such cases the 

 plants whose tubes are not directed down- 

 wards grew before the trunk fell, while 

 those plants with tubes directed toward 

 the earth were formed while the trunk 

 was lying on the ground. A knowledge 

 of the habits of these fungi will often 

 enable a woodsman to determine the 

 length of time w^hich has elapsed since a 

 tree fell. 



About eighty species of this genus 

 have been reported as growing in the 

 United States. It is certain, however, 

 that this list contains a large number of 

 duplicates. When the genus is accurately 

 studied, the number of species to be dis- 

 carded as spurious will perhaps more 

 than offset the number of new ones 

 which may be found. There are four of 

 these species that are worthy of mention 



in this article, for the reason that they 

 are very common in most parts of our 

 country and are, withal, quite attractive 

 little plants. Two of the four we illus- 

 trate in their natural colors. 



A shell-shaped form, Polystictus con- 

 cifer, occurs on dead twigs and small 

 branches, both of standing and fallen 

 trees of various kinds, especially of wal- 

 nut and elm. The plants are small, thin, 

 smooth, white, and of a spongy-leathery 

 texture. At the first, they resemble very 

 small shallow cups seated on the surface 

 of the bark. As they increase in size, 

 their shape becomes more or less spiral, 

 the color pallid, and the surface marked 

 by several consecutive furrows. The 

 under surface is yellowish, afterward 

 changing to gray. It is a pretty and deli- 

 cate little species which is less than an 

 inch in diameter when fully grown. 



A parchment-like species, Polystictus 

 pcrgamenns, is common on tree trunks 

 of all kinds, particularly those of oaks, 

 hickories and poplars. The plants are 

 thin, leathery membraneous, rigid, hairy, 

 concentrically grooved, and white in 

 color. The fruiting pores are at first a 

 rich violet or purple color, but this color 

 fades with age or upon exposure to sun- 

 light, so that in old specimens the under 

 surface has a dirty brown color. At first, 

 the plants often grow as a layer, covering 

 the tree trunk for a yard or more. From 

 the surface of this layer the bracket-like 

 growths arise, usually at short intervals 

 from each other, and when fully grown 

 may project an inch or more. 



In the vicinity of Chicago this fungus 

 has contributed its part toward the 

 extinction of the poplar groves. The 

 trunks of these trees are the home of the 

 larvae of various insects, a fact that the 

 increasing colonies of woodpeckers and 

 sapsuckers were not slow to discover. In 

 boring into the soft, brittle wood in 

 search of food, these birds weakened the 



