98 MANUAL OF TREE DISEASES 



effects. The general worm-eaten appearance of the pecky 

 wood leads to the unpression that the injury is due to wood- 

 boring insects. 



Symptoms. 



The tops of trees one hundred and twenty-five years old or 

 older are frequently affected. The rot is also found in the butts. 

 Younger trees are rarely affected by this disease. The first 

 indications of the rot are localized areas yellowish in color and 

 about one-fourth inch wide and several inches long. The wood 

 between the yellowish areas is unchanged. Decomposition of 

 the wood elements in the yellow areas proceeds until definite 

 cavities are formed. These cavities are partially filled with a 

 yellow-brown powder and occasionally white mycelium and 

 fibrous masses of partially decayed wood are found mixed with 

 the brown powder. Sometimes the pockets are found entirely 

 empty. The pockets extend lengthwise with the grain of the 

 wood and are about one-fourth of an inch wide and fom- or five 

 inches long. They are very smooth-walled and nearly cylindri- 

 cal and blunt ended. Peckiness is usually confined to the upper 

 part of the trunk and older branches. In very old individuals, 

 the wood at the base of the tree may be affected. The pockets 

 are not always found at the center of the tree but may be located 

 on one side or extend around the trunk leaving the center un- 

 affected. The pockets may be several inches apart and scat- 

 tered through the cross-section; or densely aggregated in the 

 older wood or in certain annual rings. The badly affected trees 

 are not appreciably weakened and are rarely blown over. The 

 wood between the pockets is slightly darker in color than the 

 normal wood but it is unchanged structurally. Recently it has 

 been learned that the hollows sometimes found in the butts or 

 trunks of cypress seem to be due to the complete destruction 

 of the wood between the pockets. 



The fruiting-bodies of the fungus causing the peckiness are 



