LAMPRODERMA 143 



5. LAMPRODERMA VIOLACEUM (Fries] Rost. 



1829. Stemonitis violacea Fries, Syst. Afyc., III., p. 162. 

 1875. Lamproderma violaceum (Fries) Rost., Mon., p. 204. 



Sporangia closely gregarious or scattered, depressed globose, 

 more or less umbilicate below, metallic blue or purple, sessile or 

 short stipitate ; stipe stout, dark brown or black, even ; hypo- 

 thallus, when the sporangia are crowded, a thin, continuous, 

 purplish membrane ; when the sporangia are scattered, the 

 hypothallus discoidal; columella cylindric or tapering slightly 

 upward, the apex obtuse, black, attaining the centre of the spo- 

 rangium ; capillitium lax and flaccid, made up of flexuous threads 

 branching and anastomosing to form a network, open in the 

 interior, more dense without, the threads at first pale brown as 

 they leave the columella, becoming paler outward to the color- 

 less tips ; spores minutely warted, violaceous gray, 9-1 1 yu,. 



This is our most common species ; found on decaying sticks 

 and logs late in the fall. Its pale capillitium will usually distin- 

 guish it, especially where the sporangia are empty ; then the 

 pallid free extremities of the capillitial branches give to the little 

 spheres under the lens a white or hoary appearance not seen in 

 any other species. 



The plasmodium is at first almost transparent, then amber 

 tinted, sending up tiny semi-transparent spheres on shining 

 brownish stalks. As the changes approach maturity, the spo- 

 rangia become jet black, and only at last when the spores are 

 ready for dispersal does the peridium assume its rich metallic 

 purple tints. 



New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, 

 Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota. 



6. LAMPRODERMA ARCYRIONEMA Rost. 



PLATE V., Figs, i, i a. 

 1875. Lamproderma arcyrionema Rost., Man., p. 208. 



Sporangia gregarious, scattered, globose, silvery gray or 

 bronze, iridescent, erect, stipitate ; stipe black, long, two-thirds 



