THE STORY OF THE FUNGI 137 



and may be frequently seen in the form of 

 brackets jutting ovtt from the trunk of the 

 trees. The particular habit of the mycelium 

 of this fungus is to creep into the tissue of the 

 tree, destroying everything which it touches. 

 Often the white felt-like mycelium starts round 

 the roots of the victim, and thence spreads 

 upwards throughout the whole of the trunk. 

 The tree, of course, speedily becomes sickly in 

 appearance, and finally dies altogether. When 

 it is cut down it may well be that it is a mere 

 shell, practically all the woody centre of the 

 trunk having been destroyed. 



The Honey Agaric is also an excessively 

 harmful pest, attacking, as it does, almost every 

 kind of tree. It may often start at the roots 

 of its victim, but once having secured a hold, 

 the rhizomorphs into which the mycelium is 

 formed spread upwards into the newly formed 

 wood, drawing away the vital matter which the 

 unfortunate tree has really elaborated for its 

 own use. In all these cases it is well to remem- 

 ber that the actual fungus, as it appears to the 

 observer, represents only a fraction of the system 

 of the parasite, it being simply that part which 

 is concerned with the production of spores. 



