CRIBRARIA.] HETERODERMACE^E. 143 



Plate LIV., A. a. to c. sporangia of various forms, with spores dispersed, 

 x 20 ; d. part of net and margin of cup of sporangium, var. a, x 180 ; 

 e. part of net and margin of cup, var. /3, x 180 ; /. spores and plasmodic 

 granules, x 600 (England). 



Rostafinski's specimens of C. vulgar is in Strassb. Herb., differ in no 

 respect from his types of C. aurantiaca. In describing three forms 

 of the first-named species, " a. genuina, /3. aurantioides, y. delicatula" 

 he recognises the great variability to which it is subject, and points 

 out how closely his form /3 approaches C. aurantiaca. Gatherings of 

 this species at Lyme Regis, from the same fir logs, in consecutive 

 years, show variations in the cup, net, and colour, which illustrate 

 the characters given in Rostafinski's description and figures of both 

 C. aurantiaca and C. rulyaris ; it would therefore appear necessary to 

 place the latter name as a synonym for the wide species C. aurantiaca. 



Hob. On dead fir- wood. Lyme Regis, Dorset (L:B.M.109) ; Luton, 

 Beds (L:B.M.109) ; Glamis, Scotland (B. M. 24S, 247) ; France (Paris 

 Herb.) ; Germany (B. M. 673, 674) ; Poland (Strassb. Herb.) ; 

 Philadelphia (L:B.M.109). 



7. C. splendens Pers., Syn. Fung., p. 191 (1801). Plasmodium 1 

 Total height 1*5 mm. Sporangia globose, stipitate, erect or 

 inclined, scattered, 0*3 mm. diarn., nut-brown; sporangium-wall 

 consisting in the lower half of about nine free ribs with little 

 trace of a persistent cup, continued into a loose net with narrow, 

 somewhat triangular nodes. Stalk slender, brown, four or five 

 times the length of the sporangium. Spores pale ochre, almost 

 smooth, 5 fj, diam. Rost., Mon., p. 236 ; Mass., Mon., p. 64. 

 Dictydium splendens Schrad., Nov. Gen. PL, p. 14 (1797). 



Hate LIIL, B. c. sporangia after dispersion of spores, x 50 ; /. part 

 of net of sporangium, x 180 ; g. spore and plasmodic granules, x 600 

 (Germany : Rostafinski's type). 



The description given above is drawn from the specimen from the 

 Feldberg near Freiberg, in Strassb. Herb., referred to by Rostafinski, 

 I.e. It differs from C. aurantiaca, j3, in the strong ribs taking 

 the place of a hemispherical cup ; in one sporangium the ribs branch 

 into a broad net from the apex of the stalk. The persistent 

 membranous wall mentioned by Rostafinski has almost disappeared 

 in this somewhat injured specimen ; but as the permanence of the 

 membrane is met with occasionally in nearly every species of Cribmria, 

 the character is not of great value. 



Ha b. On dead fir- wood. Feldberg, Germany (Strassb. Herb. : 

 L:B.M.110 slide). 



8. C. intricata Schrad., Nov. Gen. PL, p. 7 (1797). 

 Plasmodium? Total height 1'5 to 3 mm. Sporangia globose, 

 stipitate, nodding or erect, gregarious, 0'5 to O7 mm. diam., 

 ochraceous-brown ; cup one-third the height of the sporangium, 

 or wanting, yellow-brown, beset with brown plasmodic granules 

 0'5 to 2 /x diarn., arranged in close lines radiating from the base 

 of the sporangium ; margin more or less irregularly toothed ; 

 net close, regular ; nodes numerous, dark brown, thickened, 

 prominent, polygonal, often branching, with many free rays, and 



