Fluorescent-labelled lectins were used to stain white, brown and soft rot fungi in microtomed sections of wood from several coniferous species; the sections were then observed with incident fluorescence microscopy. Fluorescein-labelled wheat germ agglutinin greatly enchanced hyphal visibility of all fungi over that obtained with the conventional safranin-O/picro-aniline blue method. Thus, fluorescent-labelled lectins provide an improved tool for observing fungi in wood sections at stages when detection with conventional light microscopy varies, and they could prove useful for following the course of decay from spore germination to complete wood breakdown. -- AATA