. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. Tune, 1955 Curl: Oak Wilt Inocula 281. Fig. 1.—Examining a wilt-killed oak tree for mycelial mats. loose, and the condition of the wood ap- peared to be slightly bejond the optimum for mat development. These trees had wilted early in June. Examination of Trees Both standing and felled trees were studied. Five trees, four red oaks and one black oak, were felled to determine the ability of the fungus to fruit on felled tim- ber. The remaining 25 trees were left standing so that a study might he made of their natural decline and the development and de
. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. Tune, 1955 Curl: Oak Wilt Inocula 281. Fig. 1.—Examining a wilt-killed oak tree for mycelial mats. loose, and the condition of the wood ap- peared to be slightly bejond the optimum for mat development. These trees had wilted early in June. Examination of Trees Both standing and felled trees were studied. Five trees, four red oaks and one black oak, were felled to determine the ability of the fungus to fruit on felled tim- ber. The remaining 25 trees were left standing so that a study might he made of their natural decline and the development and deterioration of mycelial mats under natural conditions. Examination of the standing trees to heights of 20 to 55 feet was facilitated by ladders, fig. 1, constructed on the trunks with green oak slabs obtained from a saw- mill. A lineman's safety belt, usually with a one-half-inch rope attached, was used as an added safety precaution. Climbing spurs were not used because of the treach- erous nature of loose bark on dead trees. The ladders facilitated thorough examina- tion of the entire main trunks of trees with relative ease and provided safe positions from which some of the lateral branches could be examined. As excessive removal of bark might have caused infected trees to dry out before mats had a chance to form, these fruiting bodies of the fungus were located at first only by tapping the bark. This proved to be a surprisingly accurate method; in nearly every spot where the bark gave a dull, hollow sound when tapped, a mat was present. After trees have been dead for some time, of course, the entire trunk surface may produce a hollow sound. However, on trees that have reached this stage, few if any new mats will form. Many mats can be located merely by find- ing cracks in the bark, fig. 2, but these cracks are often so narrow that they are overlooked. Classification of Mycelial Mats The fruiting structure of the oak wilt fungus as it appears in nature consists of a light to
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