BADHAMIA.] PHYSARACE.E. 31 



Plate I., B. a. and b. var. geniiina ; sporangia, x 20 (England) ; c. 

 capillitium ; d. cluster of spores of the same, x 280. e. spore, warted on 

 the outer side, x GOO ; /. spore almost uniformly spinulose, x 600 ; 

 g. var. papaveracea \ sporangium, x 20 (New Jersey), h. cluster of 

 spores of the same, x 280. 



This species forms small plasmodia ; it is subject to much variation 

 in the size of the sporangia and in the character of the stalk and 

 spores. In some gatherings the spores are fuliginous and not so dark 

 as the type, loosely adhering and scarcely rougher on one side, not 

 exceeding 10 to 1 1 /u. diam. ; all intermediate forms occur. B. papaveracea 

 Berk. & Rav. is an American form differing from the European chiefly 

 in the stalk being usually dark, rigid, even, and filled with refuse 

 matter, and in the spores being in clusters of seldom more than G to 10 ; 

 these characters are not constant, as is shown in specimens B. M. 996, 

 and do not appear to constitute a specific distinction. B. capsulifera 

 Berk, is described as having the sporangia somewhat obovate, and the 

 type at Strassburg, referred to in Rostafinski's Monograph, has this 

 form, but the spores are in large clusters, warted on the outer surface, 

 like those of B. hyaliua ; we not infrequently meet with both globose 

 and pyriform sporangia intermixed ; the shape of the sporangium 

 therefore cannot be accepted as distinctive, and B. capsulifera must be 

 included under B. lojallna. 



Hal). On fir logs, etc., the plasmodium growing in the substance of 

 the logs and spreading between the bark and wood. a. Batheaston, 

 Somerset (B. M. 36) ; Bristol (B. M. 79) ; Leighton, Beds. (L:B.M 2.); 

 Luton, Beds. (L:B.M.2); Lyme Regis, Dorset (L:B.M.2) ; France 

 (Paris Herb.) ; Germany (Strassb. Herb.). /3. Pennsylvania (B. M. 

 996B); S. Carolina (B. M. 9D6A) ; Massachusetts (L:B.M.2). 



2. B. utricularis Berk., in Trans. Linn. Soc., xxi., p. 153 (1852). 

 Plasmodium chrome -yellow, extensively creeping. Sporangia 

 ovoid subglobose or confluent and lobed, 0'5 to 1 mm. diam., 

 clustered ; cinereous, or iridescent violet, often marked with the 

 white attachments of the capillitium, sessile or on membranous, 

 straw-coloured branching stalks; sporangium-wall hyaline with 

 sparsely distributed minute granules of lime. Capillitinm as 

 in B. hyalina. Spores bright brown or violet-brown, usually 

 adhering in loose clusters of 7 to 10; spinulose 9 to 12 /x diam.- 

 Bost., Mon., p. 142, figs. 110-112; Cooke, Myx. Brit., p. 26. 

 Sphfjerocarpus utricularis Bull. Champ., Div. II., p. 128 (1791). 

 Badhamia varia Mass., Mon., p. 319 (in part). 



Plate II., A. a. cluster of sporangia, x 20 (England) ; b. capillitium, 

 x 280 ; c. cluster of spores, x 280 ; d. spore, x 600. 



This species differs from B. hyalina in habitat, in having large 

 plasmodia commonly producing some thousands of sporangia, and in 

 the spores being brighter in colour, with coarser and less crowded 

 spines, without the cluster of warts on one side. In cultivations 

 carried on continuously for more than six years, the four varieties 

 described in Rostafinski's Monograph have presented themselves. The 

 capillitium varied both in form and in the amount of lime it contained ; 

 in some the threads were broad with wide expansions at the angles, in 

 others they were narrow and but little widened at the angles ; in some 

 the lime was abundant, in others only a few scattered granules could 

 be found. The agglutination of the spores was seen to vary in different 



