mycologlT 



Vol. X November, 1918 No. 6 



DALDINIA VERNICOSA — A PYROXY- 

 LOPHILOUS FUNGUS 



Arthur S. Rhoads 

 (With Plate 14) 



The collector is thoroughly aware that numerous species of 

 fungi occur prevailingly on burnt places. Although some of these 

 forms are found elsewhere occasionally, many are so constantly 

 associated with burnt places that they are sought only in such a 

 habitat. In order to account for this peculiar association many 

 plausible but inadequate reasons have been advanced. The fact 

 remains, as stated by Seaver (i), that sterilization of the sub- 

 stratum by heat apparently brings about some change in the soil 

 other than the simple elimination of competition in the destruc- 

 tion of bacteria and other fungi, which changes appear to be of 

 vital importance in the cultivation of fungi which normally grow 

 on a burnt substratum. Later experiments by Seaver and Clark 

 (2), dealing with the artificial cultivation of a species of Pyro- 

 nema, show that soil heated in various ways, especially by burning 

 over the surface, becomes a very favorable nutrient medium for 

 fungi of various kinds by reason of the large amount of food ma- 

 terial rendered available through the heating of the materials in 

 the soil. It is only natural to suppose that wood or bark, when 

 burnt, likewise becomes a more favorable medium for the growth 

 of certain fungi.' 



The writer has made several collections of Daldinia vernicosa 

 (Schw.) Ces. & De Not. in various states throughout the East and 

 generally finds it to be associated with fire-scorched trees. So far 



[Mycologia for September (10: 231-275) was issued September 25, 1918.] 



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