BIRCH TREES IN EPPING FOREST AND ELSEWHERE. 277
others. Sections, longitudinal and transverse, have been made
of the roots, stems, and branches. Between the bark and wood
at the base of the stem of the dead specimen, there is a small
quantity of felt, formed of the hyphal threads of a Basidiomycete
These threads have developed in a damp atmosphere, and show
the characteristic clamp connections so common in that Sub-
Class ; but the most striking feature of the specimens is the
Fig. 3. Tree No. 3. Completely dead. Lord's Bushes. 23rd June, 1900.
almost entire absence of the hyphae of Agarics or Polypori. The
wood of the branches, as they decay, exhibits a dark brown
coloration and where the branch is attacked on one side only,
which is of1,en the case, the contrast with the wood on the other
side is very marked. See figs. 4 and 5.
The specimen exhibiting a forked branch, Fig. 6, one side of
which is badly attacked and the other only slightly so, is a