30 
SAPROPHYTES AND PARASITES 
sporophores upon it. Diseased trees should be removed, 
and their roots dug up and burnt. 
Five other well-known hymenomycetal parasites are 
delineated on Plate XIII.: 
Fig. i. Armillaria mellea , the Honey Agaric.—It is one of 
the commonest of “toadstools” and one of the greatest of 
fungus pests; it attacks all kinds of trees, in garden and 
orchard as well as forest. It invades the roots of its host, 
spreads up into the cambium layer, and soon brings about 
its death. If, on stripping away the bark from a sickly tree, 
there is found beneath it an abundance of shining black 
cords of varying thickness (Fig. 2), then it is pretty certain 
that Armillaria mellea is at work, even if no sporophores 
occur. These black cords ( rhizomorphs) spread from tree to 
tree. Infection may also take place by spores settling upon 
a wound— e.g., a lopped-off bough or partly exposed root 
damaged by spade or cart-wheel. Wounds in fruit-trees 
should be at once protected by painting the surface with tar. 
Fig. 3. Armillaria mucida. — It attacks living beeches. The 
beautiful shining white sporophores are of common occur¬ 
rence in beech woods in autumn. 
Fig. 4. Pholiota adiposa. —It is usually a saprophyte, but 
sometimes attacks living conifers, beech, plum, etc., entering 
by an abraded surface. Fig. 5 is a section of a young 
specimen, showing the veil extending as a membrane from 
the margin of the pileus to the stem. 
Fig. 6 . Polyporus Schweinitzii. — It attacks many conifers, 
obtaining entrance in the same way as Fomes annosus. It 
hollows out the trunk, and is probably the most dangerous 
enemy of the larch, for which it has a decided preference. 
Remembering that the larch is the only conifer that really 
pays well in this country for planting, the mischief done 
annually by this fungus must be very great. It is increasing 
rapidly in the South of England, where nothing seems to be 
done to check its progress. It is now tolerably abundant in 
