COMATRICHA.] STEMONITACE.E. 123 



a. genuina is the type most abundant in Europe. 



/3. tenerrima is the type of Stemonitis tenerrima Berk. & Curt., from 

 S. Carolina ; it occurs in Ravenel's Coll. (B. M. 902) under the name 

 of Comatricha pulchella : it has also been found at Lyme Regis. 

 Comatricha graciUs Wing. (No. 2094, Ellis & Everhart, 2nd Series, K. 

 1589) is similar to specimens furnished by Dr. Rex as a small form of 

 C. Persoonil (L:B.M.92) ; it differs from the usual type in the very 

 faintly and closely warted spores. 



Hal>. On dead leaves, etc. a. and y. Lyme Regis, Dorset (L:B.M.92); 

 a. Leytonstone, Essex (L:B.M.92) ; a. Luton, Beds. (L:B.M.92) ; 

 /3. Philadelphia (L:B.M.92) ; a. S. Carolina (B. M. 9045) ; y. S. 

 Carolina (B. M. 902). 



7. C. rubens Lister, sp. iiov. Plasmodium watery- white. Total 

 height 1 to 2 mm. Sporangia obovoid, ellipsoid, or subglobose, 

 stipitate, erect or inclined, scattered, (J-5 to O8 niin. long, 0'3 

 to 0'5 broad, pinkish -brown, shining below; sporangium-wall 

 evanescent above, membranous and persistent in the lower 

 quarter, pinkish-brown. Stalk setaceous, black, shining, O6 to 

 1'3 mm. long, rising from a circular brown hypothallus. Colu- 

 mella reaching to about two-thirds the height of the sporangium, 

 branching at the apex. Capillitium of brownish-violet threads, 

 springing from all parts of the columella, broad at the base, more 

 or less flexuose, anastomosing and branching at wide angles, often 

 with flat expansions, gradually narrowing to the delicate straight 

 free ends ; the persistent base of the sporangium-wall is connected 

 with the lower part of the columella by capillitium threads with 

 broad attachments. Spores pale lilac-brown, minutely spinulose, 

 7 to 8 /x diani. 



Plate XLV., B. d. sporangia, x 3 ; e. columella and capillitium, with the 

 basal part of sporangium- wall persistent, x 180; /. spore, x 600 (England). 



This species has occurred at Lyme Regis two years in succession, 

 and has also been obtained in Yorkshire and Bedfordshire. Specimens 

 from America supplied by Dr. Rex are of precisely the same form as 

 the English gatherings. The spores are similar to those of C. Persoonii, 

 to which species it appears to be allied. The persistent wall at the 

 base of the sporangium is a constant character, showing an approach 

 to the genus Lamproderma. 



Hab. On dead leaves. Lyme Regis, Dorset (L-.B.M.93) ; Phila- 

 delphia (L:B.M. 93). 



SPECIES NOT MET WITH IN THE QUOTED COLLECTIONS. 



8. C. macrosperma Racib., in Rozpr. Mat. Przyr. Akad. Krak., 

 xii., p. 76 (1884). Sporangia obovate, or oblong, naked, stipitate; 

 columella tapering upwards, ceasing below the apex ; capillitium 

 arising from the columella, its branches combined into a not dense 

 net, becoming gradually more slender towards the circumference, 

 where, especially in the lower part of the sporangium, their curved 

 extremities unite to form a superficial net. Spores pale violet, 

 verruculose," 9'9 to 12 /JL diam. Var. obovata, sporangia 0'5 to 



