Brown : Timber Rot 
5 
elongate and produce spores. This conclusion is plausible be- 
cause spore formation continues for a long period and careful ex- 
amination of fruit bodies during the summer and autumn has 
shown that the spores produced by a basidium mature at approxi- 
mately the same time.^ It follows that the basidia probably 
develop successively during moist periods, a condition which ac- 
counts for the continued spore formation. 
The large, brown setae vary in shape from conical-acute to 
bluntly cylindrical and measure 70-100 ft by 4-5 /x. Below, they 
taper gradually into thin-walled h}'phae which extend horizontally. 
Massee“ makes note that in addition to the normal setae, stout 
cylindrical, obtuse, thin-walled, pale-brown bodies, intermediate 
between setae and cystidia, are sparingly met with in the hymen- 
ium. A careful microscopical examination of a number of speci- 
mens failed to reveal such structures in the form common abcut 
Ithaca, N. Y. 
The bas'dia are approximately one third the length of the cys- 
tidia and are quite colorless. They are attached below to brown 
hyphae. 
The spores are hyaline, ellipsoidal, and measure 5. 5-6.4 /x long 
by 2.8-3 broad (Figs. 2, 17*). These dimensions conform 
closely to the spore measurements by Massee, who gives them as 
5 X 3 M for this species. Saccardo^^ in his description says 
“ sporis cylindraceis, curvatis, 5-6 fi long.” The spores of speci- 
mens found about Ithaca correspond in length, but are neither 
cylindrical nor curved. Spores taken from a number of fruit 
bodies all proved to be ellipsoidal. 
Spore Germination . — Spores were obtained from many differ- 
ent specimens through a period of two years. The fruit bodies 
as brought in from the field were placed in moist chambers over 
sterilized petrie dishes, and the spores obtained in this way were 
preserved for further study. 
Spore germination was attempted in Van Tieghem cells which 
had been carefully sterilized previously with 5 per cent, corro- 
sive sublimate solution and rinsed in distilled water. ^Mounts 
were then made, using tap water, distilled water, filtered chestnut 
- H. M. Wardis has described and figured similar structures in the hy- 
menium of Stereum hirsutum Fr. and has suggested further that these inter- 
mediate hyphae may grow forward to develop a new hymenial layer. 
