1 8 Gibhs : Desti'iictive Fimgi in Wharncliffe Woods. 



Reported hy Rev. E. Maule Cole, F.G.S. 



Wetwang. 



A number of small rounded quartz pebbles were dug up 

 in my field (230 ft. above sea level) this year in making- a 

 grave for a donkey. The ground had never been disturbed. 

 They were fast in a clayey matrix, but not boulder clay. 



DESTRUCTIVE FUNGI IN WHARNCLIFFE WOODS. 



THOMAS GIBBS. 

 Sheffield. 



Perhaps the most beautiful tree of our northern moorland 

 woods is the Silver Birch. Whether in its early spring garb 

 of pale yellow-green scattered among the as yet leafless Oaks, 

 or in its graceful grey-green drapery of midsummer, or when in 

 autumn it turns to golden brown, or even in w^inter when its 

 shining white stems are a welcome relief in the dark woodlands, 

 it is never without beauty. So to the lovers of sylvan scenery 

 as well as to those to whom the woods appeal from their 

 economic aspect it is regrettable to see serious destruction 

 being caused to this beautiful tree from an entirely preventable 

 cause. At the recent meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists' 

 Union in the Wharncliffe Woods the prevalence of that destruc- 

 tive tree parasite, Polyporus betulinus Fr. , was a striking feature. 

 In all directions were dead Birches studded right up the trunks 

 with the white, hoof-shaped pilei of this fungus. Each of these 

 dead trunks forms a centre of infection from which year after 

 year myriads of minute spores are scattered in the air. Some 

 of these alighting on a wounded surface of a living tree begin 

 the work of destruction, the mycelium spreads in the livings 

 wood, and by the time the pilei make their appearance the 

 disease is past cure. Nevertheless, as Mr. Massee points out 

 in his 'Text Book of Plant Diseases,' although a cure is not 

 possible in the individual case, much may be done to prevent 

 the spread of the epidemic. Destroy every pileus as it appears ; 

 do not allow dead timber to stand or lie, also where practicable 

 protect all wounded surfaces, such as broken or sawn branches. 

 These precautions will greatly reduce the mischief. 



Naturalist, 



