350 
THE LARGER FUNGI 
surrounding the gieyisli wliite granular sclerotiuni itself. Spores elongated, 
oblique, slightly curved, white, 9 to 13 x 5d3 to 7 /r. South Australia Ilalidon 
(Alawoona line). May. (Figures 70 and 77.) 
The mycelium perretrates arrd disintegrates the wood of the karri {Eucalyptm 
diversicofor P. v. M.) sleepers forming the sirbstratuni, and then appears lon the 
surface as pallid branching ofterr flatterred cords, at first adpressed to the wood, 
birt their becoming free with a stem-like attachment a few millemetres thick and 
dowirward-gr'owing rounded or flattened bninehes, which gradually enlarge and 
thickoir and when old become covered with the dark cuticle and Cionverted into the 
mature sclerotia, which are found in close pr'oxirnity to the sleepers and remain 
at first attached but finally separate as the substratum becomes exhausted. 
[I’liofo. hy S. Tee. 
Figure 77. — Sclerotiirm of Lentinu-s (laeti/hU<le.s‘ Clel. (No. 581), showing the 
whitish growing tips of the downward-directed processes. 
Halidon, on Alawoona line. Reduced to 1. 
This fungus is of considerable economic importance on account of the shortened 
life of the affected sleepers, which seem to be chiefly if not entirely karri ones. 
It is not known whether- the fungus is an imported one, having originally entered 
the wood before it left the Western Australian forests, or whether it odcurs 
naturally on other wood in the neighbourhood. The fruiting bodies have only 
been found once. Previous to this, the sclerotia were believed to belong to a 
polypor-e. Lentinus tigrinus (Bull.) Fr. and L. lepideus Fr. are r-ecorded as 
attacking railway sleepers in other- parts of the world, but neither of these 
species possess sclerotia. 
