192 THE NORTH AMERICAN SLIME-MOULDS 



late calyculus ; stipe very short or wanting ; hypothallus thin 

 but usually in evidence ; capillitium expanding to great length, 

 forming an extremely flexile, plumose, pendulous open network 

 of pale ochraceous tint, the threads 3-4 ^ in thickness, adorned 

 with spinules, sharp-edged transverse plates, sometimes rings, 

 the surface especially marked by an indistinct reticulation; 

 spore-mass buff or ochraceous, spores by transmitted light col- 

 orless, smooth or nearly so, 7-8 /^. 



This elegant species is not rare in undisturbed woods, espe- 

 cially on fallen willows. The expanded capillitia are very soft 

 and plume-like, waving and nodding, very lightly attached 

 below to the centre of the peridial cup. The capillitium 

 threads are rough, with irregular spines and sharp-edged trans- 

 verse plates, occasionally extending to form rings. Resembles 

 the first species somewhat in habit, size, and the spinescent 

 capillitium, but the resemblance is superficial only. The color 

 is at once diagnostic, and the capillitium is after all entirely 

 different. 



Bulliard's figure determines the synonymy. Persoon called 

 the form A. flava, because Bulliard had missed the genus. 



4. ARCYRIA VITELLINA Phillips. 



1877. Arcyria vitettina Phillips, Grev., V., p. 115. 



Sporangia gregarious or more or less crowded, pyriform or 

 clavate, dingy, olivaceous yellow, stipitate; peridium mem- 

 branous, largely persistent below, where it gives rise to the 

 deep, goblet-shaped calyculus ; stipe strand-like, weak, some- 

 times wanting, concolorous with the peridium ; hypothallus 

 prominent or venulose ; capillitium only slowly expanded, 

 bright golden yellow or orange, the threads rather broad, about 

 4 fj> in diameter, regular, even, elegantly branching, adorned 

 with abundant short spines or warts, very small and evenly dis- 

 tributed, the whole net anchored in the bottom of the vasiform 

 calyculus ; spore-mass yellow, by transmitted light pale or 

 nearly colorless, smooth, about 10 M. 



