295 



petiole, there had been rain in showers some day or two previoiisl.y 

 and the little plants were out of doors exposed to it. 



EUTYPA CAULIVORA MASSEE. 



This fungus was found first on dead trees of Para rubber, the 

 black asphalte-like fructification appearing on the trunk some time 

 after the death of the tree, and was described by Massee and his 

 account published in the Bulletin Vol. IX. p. 217. 



In both cases, I believe, and certainly in one, the death of the tree 

 was caused by its being overset in a storm and nearly all its roots 

 broken. iVLr. Massee thought that the plant was certainly parasitic 

 on the living tree. Of this, hov^ever, I was myself doubtful. I have 

 since found it on a broken portion of a rubber tree, and on a stem of 

 Macaranga Griffithii cut down and used for bridging a ditch. In this 

 case I have no reason to suppose it was not a post mortem attack. 

 There were no Macarangas attacked by any disease apparent on the 

 ground befcre they were felled in clearing. 



In the case of the Hevea too everything points to the fungus 

 being saprophytic. The !tree had been blown over and lay prostrate 

 throwing up stems from near the butt. The end of the tree was cut 

 away, and about six feet of the trunk was cracked across. This portion 

 died and eventually became detached lying on the ground in contact 

 with the living portion. Decay set in and the first fungus to appear 

 was the common SchizophyllinH commune, a fungus which only attacks 

 dead wood, and is one of the commonest causes of decay of timber here. 

 This fungus had fruited and decayed away before the appearance of 

 Eutypa. Some black patches however did appear before the Schizophyl- 

 him was actually decayed, but did not fruit till later. The wood in fact 

 was decayed to a considerable extent before Eutypa made its appear- 

 ance at all. Now though the detached portion bearing the Eutypa is 

 in actual contact with the still living portion of the tree, there are 

 no signs anywhere on this portion of Eutypa or any other fungus. 

 It is confined to the long-dead detached bit, though this is actually 

 touching the living tree. This seems to confirm the theory that 

 Eutypa caulivora is a saprophytic fungus only. 



A NEW HEVEA FUNGUS FROM SURINAM. 



We add the following notes on new fungi from recent publi- 

 cations. In the Bulletin of the Surinam department van der 

 Landlbouw for April 1910, there is an account and figure of a leat 

 disease of Hevea w^hich does not seem to be the same thing as the 

 common leaf disease here. The paper is written in Dutch, but there 

 is a summary in English to the effect that. 



