A.Sporangia closely clustered.a.Obovate or short cylindric.1. Spores verruculose1.C. caespitosa2. Spores reticulate2.C. cylindricab.Elongate, reddish-brown, tufts extended3.C. flaccidaB.Sporangia scattered more or less widely.a.Capillitium lax, open.i. Sporangia long, 10–12 mm.4.C. longaii. Sporangia shorter, capillitium irregular5.C. irregularisb.Capillitium dense.i. Sporangia large, to 10 mm., spore-mass black7.C. suksdorfiiii. Sporangia smaller—6 mm.O Spore-mass brown, spherical, conoidal, etc., generally with more or less lengthened stipe8.C. nigraOO Spore-mass violaceous or purplish9.C. aequalisiii. Sporangia ovate or cylindric, minute, to 3.5 mm.O Cylindric, spore with few, scattered warts10.C. typhoidesOO Smaller, capillitium irregular, loose6.C. laxaOOO Total height to 2 mm. or much less.+ Columella digitately divided11.C. elegans++ Columella lamprodermoid, and on leaves12.C. rubens+++ Columella stemonitoid13.C. pulchella++++ Columella furcate at tip14.C. ellisii+++++ Columella almost percurrent.15.C. subcaespitosa
1.Comatricha cæspitosaSturgis.
Plate XI., Figs. 12, 13, 14.
Sporangia densely crowded or cespitose, sub-sessile or short stipitate, clavate, 1–1.5 mm. high, the peridium gray, iridescent with blue tints, comparatively permanent but finally disappearing; columella attaining two-thirds to three-fourths the height of the sporangium, giving rise throughout its length to the dense blackish capillitium; hypothallus delicate, inconspicuous; capillitium, the main branches thick at the point of origin, frequently anastomosing, and becoming gradually thinner toward the surface of the sporangium, the tips pointed, free, forming the network; spores blackish-violet in mass, by transmitted light pale brownish-violet, rough, 9.5–13 µ.
A very distinct and curious species. The sporangia are densely crowded, though by the nature of habitat somewhat tufted. The shape of the individual sporangium is quite uniformly clavate or obovate, decidedly truncate above. The spores are uniformly verruculose and plainly unequal.
This species, as indicated, was by its author described as a comatricha. To transfer it to another genus seems idle, especially when long established generic boundaries must be seriously disturbed expressly to admit the new arrival.
New England, North Carolina, on moss and lichens.—Dr. Sturgis.
2.Comatricha cylindrica(Bilgram)Macbr.
Sporangia cylindrical with obtuse apex, sessile, gregarious, iridescent,steel-gray or bronze, 1 to 1.7 mm. high, .5 to .65 mm. thick; hypothallus whitish, rugose; sporangium-wall membranous, hyaline, not adhering to the capillitium; columella arising from the hypothallus and extending nearly to the apex, brown, very light and semi-translucent near the base, irregular, flexuous, limeless throughout; capillitium brown, radiating from the columella to the periphery, repeatedly branching and anastomosing; spores warted, the warts connected by ridges forming a more or less perfect, coarse reticulation, violaceous, pale, 10–12 µ.
This is a very interesting species closely related to the preceding from which it differs chiefly in the reticulation and generally more uniform character of the spores. The author hesitated about the generic reference, finally referring it toDiachaeadespite the lack of calcium, because it was sessile and had a peridium rather more persistent than is usual in comatrichas. But the presence of lime in stipe and columella is an essential element in the diagnosis ofDiachaea, while length of stem is everywhere variable in stipitate forms of every genus, and the persistence of the peridium is also an uncertain factor; hangs on long inC. typhoides,e. g.
On dead twigs, etc.—Philadelphia,—Mr. Bilgram; New Hampshire.
3.Comatricha flaccidaList.
Sporangia semi-erect, close crowded in tufts two inches in diameter, ferruginous, from a dark brown hypothallus, sessile or short stipitate; columella weak, crooked, percurrent, generally enlarged irregularly at the apex; capillitium of few, slender, brown branches which anastomose sparsely and irregularly as inC. irregularis, and present when freed from spores the same chenille-like appearance; spore-mass ferruginous brown; spores by transmitted light bright reddish brown, minutely warted, 8–10 µ.
"Growing on old wood and bark of Oak, Willow, etc. The componentsporangia 5–10 mm. in length. The early appearance is much like that of a species ofStemonitis, but the mature stage is a great mass of spores with scanty capillitium, as inReticularia; the columellas, however, are genuine and not adjacent portions of wall grown together."—Professor Morgan.
Professor Morgan's herbarium material is at hand for study. It meets his description, needless to say, very generally. In what remains of the type the membranous connections are obscure; in fact the relation of such peridial (?) fragments to the capillitium in any way, is no longer evident. But in any event the colony does not impress one as something prematurely or improperly developed, a stemonitis gone begging;—nothing of that kind; it is clearly a comatricha, easily identifiable with no trace of a surface net but, with long free tips in plenty.
Misled no doubt, by the peridial fragments referred to, Mr. Lister inMycetozoa, l. c., associated this withS. confluensCke. & Ell., but entered it as a variety ofS. splendensRost., just the same. In the second edition of theMonograph, Ellis' species is set out, but Morgan's retains the old position.
In light of present knowledge, the relationship suggested would be difficult of proof. IfC. flaccidaMorgan be related to thesplendensgroup at all, it must be with the form known asS. webberiRex., but it differs from this in almost every particular. It has no net, with meshes uniform or diverse; it is clear brown in color, with a tinge of red, beneath the lens; the spores are smaller, distinctly warted and with the reddish tinge of the capillitium; and in short, it seems to be a comatricha and not a stemonitis.
Specimens from western Washington differ in some particulars but are apparently the same thing.
Ohio, Kentucky, Washington, California; not common.
4.Comatricha longaPeck.
Plate VI., Figs. 2, 2a, 2b.
Sporangia crowded in depressed masses or tufts, black, long, cylindric, even, stipitate; stipe black, shining, generally very short; hypothalluswell developed, black; columella black, slender, weak, generally dissipated some distance below the apex; capillitium of slender brown or dusky threads anastomosing to form an open network next the columella, but extended outwardly in form of long free slender branchlets, now and then dichotomously forked; spore-mass blue-black, spores by transmitted light dark brown, globose, spinulose, some of them faintly reticulate, about 9 µ.
A very remarkable species. Rare in the west, more common, as it appears, in the eastern states. The sporangia occur in tufts about 1 or 2 cm. wide, springing generally from crevices in the bark of decaying logs, especially willow and elm, in swampy places. The sporangia are remarkable for their great length. Generally about 20–25 mm., specimens occasionally reach 50 mm.! The capillitial branches are so remote that the spores are scarcely retained by the capillitium at all. Well described and figured by the author of the species,Forty-third Rep. N. Y. State Museum, p. 24, Pl. 3.
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa.
5.Comatricha irregularisRex.
Sporangia crowded in flocculent tufts, very dark brown or black, semi-erect or drooping, 4–5 mm. in height, irregularly cylindric, variable, stipitate; stipe black, distinct, often one-half the total height; hypothallus well developed, brown, shining; columella central, slender, flexuous, reaching the apex, where it blends, by branching, with the capillitium; capillitium loose, open, composed of arcuate threads which radiate from the columella, and are joined together, forming a central, irregular reticulation of large meshes, brown, paler toward the surface, where the free ends are sometimes colorless; spore-mass black, spores by transmitted light brown, minutely warted, 7–8 µ.
Related, no doubt, toC. longa, but differing in habit, stature, as in texture and structure of the capillitium. InC. longathe inner net is extremely simple,—a row or two of meshes at most, and the radiating branches are long and straight; in the species before us the inner network is well developed, and the radiating branches proportionately shorter and abundantly branching, with pale or white free tips.
Generally, though not always, found growing in the crevices of the bark on fallen logs of various deciduous trees. September. Not common.
This is thought to beC. cryptaSchw.,N. A. F., 2351; but the description under that number does not make clear what form Schweinitz had before him, the present species orC. longa, and the herbarium specimen of Schweinitz is "utterly lost"; the later specific name is accordingly adopted.
New England west to the Cascade Mountains; south to Kansas and Texas.
6.Comatricha laxaRostafinski.
Plate V., Figs. 5, 5a.
Sporangia scattered, gregarious, sub-globose or short cylindric, and obtuse, dusky stipitate; stipe short, black, tapering rapidly upward from an expanded base; hypothallus scant or none; columella erect, rigid, sometimes reaching nearly to the apex of the sporangium, sometimes dichotomously branched a little below the summit, before blending into the common capillitium; capillitium lax, of slender, horizontal branches, anastomosing at infrequent intervals and ending in short, free tips; spores pallid, nearly smooth, 7–9.5 µ.
A very minute, delicate little species, about 1½ mm. high; the stipe half the total height. In general appearance the shorter forms of the species resemble slightlyC. nigra, but are distinguished by a much shorter stipe and much more open capillitium. The sporangia ofC. nigramounted on long capillary stipes always droops more or less; the sporangia of the present species stand rigidly erect. The sporangia vary in form and in the branching of the columella. In the more globose phases, the columella almost always shows a peculiar dichotomy near the apex; in the cylindric types, this peculiar division fails.[36]In fact, the shape is determined chiefly by the mode of branching as affects the columella. Rostafinski's figure, on Tab. XIII, doesnot present the type usually seen in this country, nor even in Europe if we may judge from later illustrations.
The species with us has received various names, but so far as can be determined, all apply to the same thing, and comparison of specimens from Mr. Ellis with those from Europe show the correctness of the nomenclature here adopted.
Rare, but widely distributed; across the continent.
7.Stemonitis suksdorfiiEll. & Everh.
Plate XI., Figs. 9, 10, 11.
Sporangia scattered in small tufts or gregarious, cylindric, obtuse at both ends, sometimes widened above, black, 2–6 mm., stipitate; stipe jet-black, shining, even, about one-half the total height; hypothallus not continuous, dark brown; columella black, rather slender, terminating in two or more large branches just below the apex; capillitium exceedingly dense, dark fuscous or black, the flexuous threads anastomosing in a close network, with abundant free pallid extremities; spores in mass, blue-black, by transmitted light fuscous or dark violaceous-brown, minutely warted, 10–12 µ.
Easily recognizable at sight by its sooty color. Entirely unlike any of the preceding. The type of the capillitium is that ofC. pulchella,but it is very much more dense and entirely different in color. Thesporangia are often widened above, and fairly truncate; the total height about 6 mm. Found on the bark of fallen twigs ofAbies, Larix, etc. Distributed by Ell. & Everh. under this name as anexsiccata. The evanescent peridium is colorless; when free, white or silvery.
8.Comatricha nigra(Pers.)Schroeter.
Plate XI., Figs. 1, 2, 3.
Sporangia scattered, ferruginous or dark brown, globose or ovoid, stipitate; stipe long, hair-like, tapering upward, black; hypothallus none; columella rapidly diminished toward the top, at length dissipated; capillitium of slender flexuous threads, radiating horizontally, repeatedly branching and anastomosing to form an intricate dense network, from the surface of which project a few short hook-like peridial processes; spore-mass black, spores by transmitted light dark violaceous, smooth or nearly so, 7–10 µ.
This species, when typical, is easily recognized by its almost globose sporangia mounted on long slender stocks. These are 2 or 3 mm. high and generally persist, as Persoon noticed, a long time after the sporangium has fallen. The sporangia are at first black; after spore disposal pale ferruginous. In shape they vary from ovate to spherical. Sometimes they are umbilicate below, so that a vertical section would be obcordate. Care must be taken to distinguish the present species from blown-out forms ofLamproderma.
This most common species seems to be also the center of widest differentiation. In a valuable paper on the Myxomycetes of Dr. C. H. Peck's Herbarium Dr. Sturgis points out the varying relationships of a group of surrounding forms. According to accountC. nigraverges on one side toC. laxa, on the other toaequaliswhich the Listers enter as varietal here. However, in the former the more rigid, direct and simple branching from the columella is usually determinative; in the latter the color, form, and generally more delicate structure, and a tendency to grow in tufts will serve to distinguish.
In this discussion we have assumed as typical the globose sporangium, with the variations in the direction of ovate, obovate, ellipsoidal, etc., the capillitium flexuous and more richly anastomosing near the columella. On the drier slopes in the mountains of Colorado specimens are especially abundant, in proper season covering apparently the lower surface of every barkless twig or fallen stem ortree entire! In such a field one might imagine every possible variationopen to observation. Probably such is the case; but as a matter of fact a single small plasmodium at lower levels will sometimes show greater range of variation than were noted on the mountain-side. The cylindric forms were for some reason few, and when noted were short, though often surmounting stems of double the usual length.
Rostafinski calls thisC. friesiana, a name suggested by De Bary. By this name the species was commonly known for many years. More recently some writers preferC. obtusataPreuss; butC. obtusataPreuss, as figured by that author (Sturm'sDeutsch. Fl., Pl. 70), is surely more likelyEnerthenema papillata, and the author says in his description "capillitio vertice soli innato." Persoon certainly recognized the species, and his description, though brief, is yet applicable to no other European species. There seems no reason why the name he gave should not be permanently adopted. Rostafinski's figure, Tab. XIII., shows an ellipsoidal sporangium, not cylindric.
On the lower levels of the Mississippi valley, the species is not common. Possibly overlooked by reason of its minuteness.
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, North Carolina, Missouri.
9.Comatricha æqualisPeck.
Plate VI., Figs. 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d; andPlate XVIII., Figs. 13, 13a, 13b.
Sporangia gregarious, seldom erect, usually inclined, curved or nodding, dark brown, becoming violet, cylindric, acuminate-obtuse, stipitate; stipe about half the total height, 2–2½ mm., black, polished, even; hypothallus well developed, brown, continuous; columella black, tapering gradually, and attaining almost the summit of the sporangium; capillitium dense, of flexuous tawny threads which, by repeated branching, form an intricate network, the free extremities numerous, short, and pale; spores dark violaceous, distinctly warted, 7.5–8 µ.
A very graceful, elegant species, related toC. pulchellaandC. persoonii, but distinct by its much greater size and smaller spores. The specimens before show us the perfection of beauty in this genus;the polished stipe, the symmetrical capillitium, the soft purple-brown tints, are remarkable, and enable one to recognize the form at sight.
Specimens from Oregon are unusually fine; larger than usual, reach 7 mm. total height, and when blown out present the tints of violet in unusual clearness; var.C. pacifica.Plate XVIII., Figs. 13, 13a, and 13b.
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois; Oregon,Professor Peck.
10.Comatricha typhoides(Bull.)Rost.
Plate VI., Figs. 1, 1a, 1b.
Sporangia gregarious, scattered, cylindric, erect, sometimes arcuate, obtuse, 2–3 mm. high, at first silvery, then brown, as the peridium vanishes, stipitate; stipe black, about one-half the total height or less; hypothallus distinct, more or less continuous, reddish-brown; columella tapering upward, black, attaining more or less completely the apex of the sporangium; capillitium, arising as rather stout branches of the capillitium, soon taking the form of slender, flexuous, brownish threads, which by repeated anastomosing form at length a close network, almost as inStemonitis, the free, ultimate branches very delicate and short; spore-mass dark brown; spores by transmitted light, pale, almost smooth, except for the presence of a few scattered but very prominent umbo-like warts, of which four or five may be seen at one time, 5–7.5 µ.
This is our most common North American species. It occurs everywhere on decaying wood, sometimes in remarkable quantity, thousands of sporangia at a time. The plasmodium, watery white incolor, infests preferably very rotten logs ofQuercus, on which in June the sporangia rise as white or pallid columns. The peridium is exceedingly delicate, less seldom seen here than in some other species, but likely to be overlooked entirely. The spores when fresh have a distinct violet or bluish tinge; in old specimens they are almost colorless. In any case they are well marked by the large papillæ already referred to.
C. typhina, var.heterosporaRex, differs from the type in several particulars: the sporangia manifest a closer habit; the capillitium is made up of more slender threads and forms a yet denser network; the spores between the large papillæ are marked by a more or less perfectly formed reticulation.[37]
As to nomenclature, this is our old friendC. typhina(Pers.) Rost. It should be, more properly, calledC. typhinaRost., for it is not Persoon's species exactly. But Scopoli,l. c., by citing Hall, Gleditsch, and Micheli, so describes our form as to leave small doubt that he had before him our common species. Schaeffer's figures also come to the rescue, which, though by no means satisfactory, yet can probably refer to no other species. However, Bulliard gives the first good account and figure, and in concord with the decision of our English colleagues, the name afforded by the famousChampignonsis here adopted.
Widely distributed. Maine to California, and from British America to Nicaragua.
11.Comatricha elegans(Racib.)List.
Plate XVI., Fig. 12.
Sporangia loosely gregarious, globose, purplish-brown, small, 1–1.5 mm. in total height, stipitate; stipe black, subulate, to 1 mm,; columellaat first divided into a few main branches, from which by repeated subdivision the delicate, anastomosing, flexuose capillitial threads take origin; spores pale brownish-violaceous, spinulescent, 8–10 µ.
South Carolina. Colorado:—Dr. Sturgis.
12.Comatricha rubensLister.
Sporangia gregarious, globoid or ellipsoidal, 1–1.5 mm., pink-brown, stipitate; peridium persistent below; stipe .5–1 mm., black, shining; columella to more than half the sporangium, giving off on all sides the brownish-violaceous, flexuose threads of the capillitium, somewhat thickened and broadly attached to the persisting peridial cup; spores lilac-brown, spinulescent, 7–8 µ.
Another border species, looking to the lamprodermas. Philadelphia, by courtesyMr. Bilgram.
13.Comatricha pulchella(Bab.)Rost.
Plate XIII., Fig. 4, andPlate XII., Figs. 16 and 16a.
Sporangia very minute, 1 mm. high, scattered, ovate or ovate-cylindric acuminate, pale brown or ferruginous, stipitate; stipe short, black, nearly even; hypothallus none, or merely a circular base to the tiny stem; columella straight, gradually tapering, reaching almost if not quite to the apex of the sporangium; capillitium dense, a network of flexuous brown threads, rather broad within, ending in slendertips without; spore-mass brown, spores by transmitted light pale "lilac brown," or pale ferruginous, minutely but uniformly warted, 6–8 µ.
Probably widely distributed but rarely collected. Pennsylvania, Iowa;Okoboji. Toronto,—Miss Currie.
14.Comatricha ellisiiMorg.
Plate XII., Figs. 15 and 15a.
Sporangia short, erect, oval or ovoid to oblong. Stipe and columella erect, brown and smooth, rising from a thin pallid hypothallus, tapering upward and vanishing into the capillitium toward the apex of the sporangium, the stipe usually longer than the columella. Capillitium of slender pale brown threads; these branch several times with lateral anastomosing branchlets, forming a rather open network of small meshes, ending with very short free extremities. Spores globose, even, pale ochraceous, 6–7 mic. in diameter.
Growing on old pine wood. Sporangium .3–.6 mm. in height by .3–.5 mm. in width, the stipe usually a little longer than the sporangium.
On the strength of the clear descriptions and beautiful drawings of Celakowsky,Myxomyceten Böhmens, p. 52; Taf. 2, Figs. 7 and 8, this elegant little species as described by my colleague Professor Morgan was, in the former edition, referred toC. laxaRost. It was then reported from New Jersey only. Since then we have specimens from Ohio and from southern Missouri, all true to form, almost identical. It seems wise accordingly, while recognizing the relationship of the form to bothC. laxa, and toC. nigraas well, to give it here an individual place again. It is very small; but once studied may thereafter be easily recognized by a hand-lens. The form is definite, clean-cut, and the spores are pronouncedly smaller than in either of the two related species.
15.Comatricha subcaespitosaPeck.
Plate XII., Figs. 17, 17a.
Sporangia scattered or sometimes in loose clusters, cylindric, obtuse, about 1.5–2 mm., dark brown, stipitate; stipe short, one-fifth total height; hypothallus minute; capillitium regular, the branching quite uniform parallel, flexuous, brown with a tinge of violet, not dense; columella well-defined, almost percurrent; spores brown in mass, under lens dusky, nearly smooth, 9–10 µ.
The larger spores, regular, erect form, and clustered habit separate this form from others with which it will be naturally associated. See page 283 underAddenda.
4. DiachæaFries
Sporangia distinct, globose or cylindric, the peridium thin, iridescent, stipitate; the stipe and columella surcharged with lime, white or yellowish, rigid, thick, tapering upward; capillitium of delicate threads free from lime, radiating from various points on the columella, branching and anastomosing as inComatrichato form a more or less intricate network, the ultimate branchlets supporting the peridial wall.
Rostafinski placed this genus near theDidymieaeon account of the calcareous columella and the non-calcareous capillitium. On the other hand the structure of the capillitium and the iridescent simple peridium allyDiachaeatoLamprodermaand theStemoniteae; the only distinction being the calcareous stem. It is simply an intermediate genus to be placed here more conveniently than anywhere else in what is of necessity a linear arrangement.
Key to the Species of Diachæa
A.Stipe and columella white.a.Sporangium cylindric1.D. leucopodiab.Sporangium globose.i. Evidently stalked2.D. splendensii. Stalk very short, 5 mm., conic.O Spores warted3.D. bulbillosaOO Spores faintly netted4.D. subsessilisB.Stipe yellowish or orange5.D. thomasii
1.Diachaea leucopodia(Bull.)Rost.
Sporangia rather closely gregarious, metallic blue or purple iridescent, cylindric or ellipsoidal, obtuse, sub-umbilicate below, stipitate; stipe short, much less than one-half the total height, snow-white, tapering upward; hypothallus white, venulose, occurring from stipe to stipe to form an open network over the substratum; columella thick, cylindric, tapering, blunt, terminating below the apex, white; capillitium springing from every part of the columella, of slender threads, brown, flexuous, branching and anastomosing to form an intricate net; spores in mass nearly black, by transmitted light dull violaceous, minutely roughened, 7–9 µ.
A very beautiful species; not uncommon in the eastern states; rare west of the Mississippi. Easily recognized, amid related forms, by its snow-white stem, a feature which did not escape the notice of Bulliard and suggested the accepted specific name. Fries adopted the specific name proposed by Trentepohl and wroteD. elegans, simply because to him the peridium was "admodum elegans."
The peridium is exceedingly thin and early deciduous; the stipe long persistent. The plasmodium, dull white, was observed by Fries at the beginning of the century; "morphoseos clavem inter myxogastres hoc genus primum mihi subministravit."
This species, as the diachæas generally, affects fallen sticks and leaves in orchards and forests and even spreads boldly over the foliage and stems of living plants.
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, California, Canada.
2.Diachaea splendensPeck.
Plate VII., Figs. 1, 1a, 1b, 1c.
Sporangia gregarious, metallic blue with brilliant iridescence, globose, stipitate; stipe white, short, tapering upward; hypothallus white, venulose, a network supporting the snowy stipes; columella white, cylindric, passing the centre, obtuse; capillitium lax, of slender, anastomosing, brown, translucent threads; spores in mass black, by transmitted light dark-violaceous, very coarsely warted, 7–10 µ.
This is perhaps the most showy species of the list. The globose brilliantly iridescent sporangia are lifted above the substratum on snow-white columnar stalks; these are again joined one to another by the pure white vein-like cords of the reticulate hypothallus. The plasmodium may spread very widely over all sorts of objects that come in the way, dry forest leaves and sticks, or the fruit and foliage of living plants. Closely resembling the preceding, but differing in the globose sporangia, it may be instantly recognized under the lenses by its coarsely papillate spores.
Not common. New York, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska.
3.Diachaea subsessilisPk.
Sporangia gregarious or closely crowded, small, about .5 mm., dull iridescent-blue, greenish-gray, etc., globose or depressed-globose, short-stalked or nearly sessile; stipe generally very short, reduced sometimes to a mere persistent cone, white; columella obsolescent or reduced to white conical intrusion of the stipe; capillitium radiating from the stipe, brown, consisting of branching, anastomosing threads, paler at the tips; hypothallus very scanty or none; spores minutely warted, the papillæ arranged in an irregular, loose net-work, violet-brown, paler under the lens, 10–12 µ.
This species is easily recognizable by its diminutive size and generally defective structure; i. e. it has the appearance of a degenerate ordepauperate representative of some finer form. Besides the type, yet to be seen in Albany, Dr. Sturgis reports the species from Connecticut and from the Isle of Wight! A small gathering is before me from Colorado. Every sporangium is borne upon a calcareous pedicel, very short indeed, but real. Thevar. globosareferred to in the English text underD. leucopodiahas not appeared so far as reported, on this side the sea, but even such variety could scarcely in the hands of a collector take the place of the form now under consideration.
Specimens ofD. subsessilisfrom Europe correspond remarkably with those described by Drs. Peck and Sturgis. Mr. Lister would have our species a synonym forLamproderma fuckelianum cracovense(Rost.) Cel.
Rare; from Connecticut to Colorado.
4.Diachæa bulbillosa(Berk. & Br.)List.
Sporangia gregarious, globose, small, iridescent purple, stipitate; stipe conical, white, sometimes brown, half-a-mm., half the total height; columella clavate, white or brown; capillitium of purple-brown threads united to form a lax net; spores violet-grey, marked with scattered warts "6–8 in a row across the hemisphere", 7–9 µ.
Java,Berkeley & Broome, op. c.Toronto, Canada; cited here by courtesy of Miss Currie who gives the spores 7.8 µ.
5.Diachaea thomasiiRex.
Plate V., Fig. 6, 6a.
Sporangia gregarious, more or less crowded, purple and bronze, iridescent, globose sessile or short stipitate; stipe, when present, very short, thick, tapering rapidly upward, orange; hypothallus orange, prominent venulose, continuous; columella ochre yellow, rough, cylindric, tapering upward to one-half the height of the sporangium, obtuse; capillitium lax, of slender brown rigid threads, radiating from the columella in every direction, anastomosing to form a loose, large-meshednetwork; spore-mass brown; spores by transmitted light violaceous, minutely, unevenly warted, 10–12 µ.
The peculiar orange color of the calcareous deposits in stipe and columella easily distinguish this species. The capillitium is also distinctive, rigid, simple, and comparatively scant, lamprodermoid. Rex calls attention to the fact that under low magnification the spores appear spotted; but the spots are occasioned simply by the closer aggregation, at particular points, of the ordinary papillæ.
A southern species. All the specimens so far reported are from the mountains of North Carolina.
The specimens referred to under this name by Lister,Mon., p. 92, as coming from "Kittery, U. S. A." (Kittery, Maine?), are, no doubt, according to Mr. Lister's figures,Comatricha caespitosaSturgis. See under that species.
C.LAMPRODERMACEÆ
Sporangia distinct, generally gregarious, more or less spherical; capillitium developed chiefly or solely from the summit of the columella.
Key to the Genera of the Lamprodermaceæ