WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



79 



Point, Pennsylvania; Fontella, Vir^nia; and from Lewisburg, 

 Greenbrier county, and Whetsell, Preston county. West Virginia. 



The appearance and v^ork of the chestnut bark disease are 

 thus described: "The spores of this fungus, brought by some 

 means from a previously diseased tree, enter the bark through 

 wounds ; possibly also in other ways. The leaves and green twigs 

 are not directly affected. From the point of infection the fungus 

 grows in all directions through the inner bark until the growth 

 meets on the opposite side of the trunk or limb, which in this 

 way is girdled. The wood is but little affected. Limbs with 

 smooth bark attacked by the fungus soon show dead, discolored, 

 sunken patches of bark covered more or less thickly with yellow, 

 orange, or reddish-brown pustules of the fruiting fungus. In 

 damp weather or in damp situations the spores are extended in 

 the form of long irregular "horns" or strings, at first greenish 

 to bright yellow in color, becoming darker with age. * * * * A 

 (diseased) patch usually grows fast enough to girdle the branch 

 or trunk that it is on during the first summer."* 



The means recommended for the control of this disease are 

 the cutting down and destroying of infected trees and rigid ex- 

 amination of nursery stock. 



Fungi That Injure Roots. 



There are several fungi that attack the roots of trees. Only 

 one of these will be mentioned here. This is a gill-bearing fungus 

 knovm as the honey mushroom. {Armillana.mellea{Yaihh)Qi\el.) ■ 

 Its presence is manifested in the affected tree by a "drying up 

 of the top" and in its advanced stages by the honey-colored 

 fruiting parts of the fungus which appear scattered over the 

 ground near the base of infected trees. 



Fungi That Injure the Wood of Living Trees. 



Under this head comes a large number of destructive fungi 

 which attack the wood of living trees. Some of these are truly 

 parasitic and injure the growing sapwood ; but by far the greater 



*"The Present Status of the Chestnut Bark Disease" — Metcalf 

 and Collins. 



