PSEUDO-SCLEROTIA OF LENTINUS SIMILIS, &C. 
11 
subsequently produce the fructification. But the formation 
of such masses is apparently not constant in the case of 
Lentinus infundibuliformis ; the sporophore frequently, perhaps 
the more usually, develops directly from the decaying log 
or stump. 
The two examples described below were formed from the 
trunk of a mango tree which was felled in December, 1904. 
The log remained recognizable until 1914, and during the ten 
years it produced successive crops of this Lentinus and other 
fungi. 
A pseudo -Sclerotium was gathered in 1912,"^ lying free on 
the soil by the side of the decaying log. It bore two pilei 
of Lentinus infundibuliformis, one-half expanded and the 
other just expanding. In shape it is irregularly fusoid, 
19 cm. long and 4 cm. diameter at the thickest part. It is 
more or less irregularly longitudinally furrowed, and has the 
general appearance of a piece of wood. Externally it shows 
the grain of the wood, and is coloured a reddish -purple. On 
handling the air-dry specimen one is immediately struck by 
its weight ; its specific gravity is 0*87. 
On splitting it longitudinally with a chisel, the fracture 
does not follow the grain of the wood. The surface of the 
fracture is granular or powdery, with lines here and there 
showing the remains of the wood fibres. In cross section 
(sawn) the surface appears waxy or resinous, and composed 
of closely-packed circular elements, but when smoothed with 
a razor it is uniformly continuous, the position of the meduUary 
rays and vessels being indicated by whiter lines and dots, 
which are only apparent under a lens. This pseudo -sclerotium 
differs from that of Lentinus similis in that it is solid, all the 
cavities of the wood elements being completely filled by the 
mycelium. 
Examination of a cross section shows that much of the 
wood persists. The medullary rays have disappeared. Many 
of the vessels have also been consumed, but a number of them 
remain ; their walls are much reduced, and they often lie 
isolated in the mass^ of mycelium. The bulk of the woody 
* Another pseudo-sclerotium of this type was obtained at the same 
spot in March, 1915. 
