HIGHER BASIDIOMYCETES FROM THE PHILIPPINES 
AND THEIR HOSTS, V 
By Otto A. Reinking 
Plant Pathologist of the College of Agriculture and the Agricultural 
Experiment Station, Los Banos 
Numbers I to IV of this series, on Higher Basidiomycetes from 
the Philippines and their hosts, show that a large amount of the 
destruction to forest trees and construction timber is due to 
fungi. Heretofore, the general belief has been that termites 
and other insects caused the greatest damage to woods in the 
Malay Archipelago. Fungi are widespread and are continually 
working under a variety of conditions. The destruction caused 
by them is greatest in damp situations and is particularly severe 
during the rainy season. The ravages of termites, on the other 
hand, occur only under certain conditions and in definite local- 
ities. According to the published lists, individual hosts may be 
attacked by at least ten different fungi. The damage done to 
certain structural timbers has been great. The proper kinds 
of wood to be used for building purposes will consequently 
depend upon the locality and the use to which they are to be put. 
As an example, guijo, Shorea guiso (Blanco) Blume, because it 
is attacked by a variety of fungi, should not be used for planking 
on a bridge which is exposed to rain and to high moisture condi- 
tions. Molave, Vitex parviflora Juss., is much better for this 
purpose, as under the same conditions it is not so severely in- 
vaded by fungi. It seems probable, because of this fungus 
attack, that a preservative treatment of all woods used in ex- 
posed places would be beneficial. 
The following list of fungi is a continuation of the identi- 
fications of the higher Basidiomycetes collected on Mount Ma- 
quiling, in the vicinity of Los Banos, Laguna Province, Luzon, 
and in Mindanao. The collections have been made either by me 
or by students under my direction. I am indebted to Messrs. 
E. E. Schneider, J. M. Pascual, A. Barros, and L. Adona of the 
Bureau of Forestry for wood identifications. The majority of 
the determinations of fungi given in this -list were made by 
C. G. Lloyd, of Cincinnati, Ohio. The species of fungi are 
91 
