FUNGOID PESTS OF TIMBEE 149 



and briglit orange-yellow witliin. As the disease 

 advances, the areas of the sunken patches become 

 decayed and resin flows freely therefrom. 

 Eventually the whole branch or even the tree 

 is killed by its parasite. 



We may here conveniently mention a partial 

 parasite which must not be confused with the 

 fungi we have mentioned or are about to men- 

 tion. Mistletoe, Phoradendron flavescens, is a 

 flowering plant possessing green leaves, capable 

 of taking up carbon dioxide from the air and, 

 as such, in no way related to the lowly fungi. 

 Mistletoe attacks a variety of trees. It is pro- 

 pagated by seeds, which are carried by birds 

 from host to host. When the seeds germinate 

 they send down attaching organs called haustoria 

 into the tissues of their host. The haustoria 

 enable the Mistletoe to tap the raw food material 

 and convert it to its own use. The result is 

 that the ends of the branches upon which 

 Mistletoe grows are rapidly killed through lack 

 of nourishment. 



Of the parasites which cause indirect injury 

 to timber we can only mention a very small 

 percentage. The leaf-infesting fungi are an 

 enormous host, but the damage they cause is 

 similar in every case, they prevent the leaves 

 from building up food material. To the man 

 who is interested in timber these leaf-infesting 



