CHAPTER VI 



DISEASES DUE TO AGARICUS MELLEUS AND 

 POLYPORUS SULPHUREUS, 



Before proceeding further it will be of advantage 

 to describe another tree-killing fungus, which has long 

 been well known to mycologists as one of the com- 

 monest of our toadstools growing from rotten stumps, 

 and decaying wood-work such as old water-pipes, 

 bridges, &c. This is Agartcus melleus (Fig 1 5), a 

 tawny yellow toadstool with a ring round its stem, 

 and its gills running dowm on the stem and bearing 

 white spores, and which springs in tufts from the base 

 of dead and dying trees duiing September and October. 

 It is very common in this country, and I have often 

 found it on beeches and other trees in Surrey, but it 

 has been regarded as simply springing from the dead 

 rotten wood, &c, at the base of the tree. As a 

 matter of fact, however, this toadstool is traced to a 



