130 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI 



nized. Nearly all of them, however, are quite 

 minute and occur in small patches on the sub- 

 stratum. On this account, they may easily be 

 overlooked unless careful search is made for them. 

 One of the types of fruiting body most commonly 

 encountered is a delicate, plume-like sporangium 

 of lacy texture, supported by a fine stalk. An- 

 other is a very small globular spore case held up- 

 right on a fine stalk, while the third is a sessile, 

 globular body which may range in size from less 

 than a millimeter to several centimeters in dia- 

 meter. 



In the collection made at Lake Nipigon there 

 are representatives of twenty-nine species, two of 

 which have not previously been reported as 

 occurring in Canada. The identification of these 

 specimens was very kindly undertaken by Miss 

 M. E. Currie, M.A., of the Department of Botany, 

 University of Toronto, and the writer is also 

 indebted to her for extensive notes relating to 

 each species. The names of the species collected, 

 together with short descriptions, as suggested by 

 Miss Currie, are given below: 



1. Arcyria incarnafa Pers. 



Six specimens of this form were obtained, 

 ranging in colour from the typical dark reddish- 

 brown to a pale flesh pink. The capillitium of 

 these specimens is of delicate lacy texture and is 

 attached to a small cup the whole resembling a 

 small red plume. 



2. Arcyria nutans Grev. (Fig. 1). 



Yellow coloured feathery aggregations of the 

 fruiting bodies of this species were obtained on 

 four occasions. The capillitium is superficially 

 much like the preceding and resembles it closely 

 except for the yellow colour. 



3. Badhamia decipiens Berk. 



This species has not previously been reported 

 for Canada although Macbride in his North Ameri- 

 can Slime Molds records it for New England. The 

 specimen has small, sessile, subglobose fruiting 

 bodies which are sometimes plasmodiocarpous or 

 evenly distributed in grayish yellow masses over 

 the substratum. The cappillitium consists of 

 large, orange branching lime knots connected by 

 thin hyaline threads or sometimes by typical 

 coarse, lime-filled threads. The spores are pale 

 violet-brown, minutely spiculose, and slightly 

 paler and smoother on one side. 



4. Badhamia utricularis Berk. 



The sporangia of this species are globular, 

 bluish-coloured bodies attached to the substratum 

 by means of fine, straw-coloured stalks. The 

 clusters of fruiting bodies have the appearance of 

 bunches of grapes recumbent on the substratum 

 since the stalks are not strong enough to support 

 the sporangia. 



5. Badhamia panicea Rost. (Fig. 3). 

 Macbride reports this species as purely a western 



form and this is the first report of it for Canada. 

 The sporangia are gregarious, sessile, subglobose 

 bodies 6-8 mm. in diameter and of a blue-gray 

 colour. The spores are a violet gray colour, 

 slightly paler on one side and minutely spiculose; 

 but more smooth and more violet in colour than 

 Badhamia foliccola. The peridium is transparent 

 and thickly dotted with minute clusters of white 

 lime granules. 



6. Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa Macbr. 



The sporophores are very small unbranched 

 white bodies, and, since they occur in clusters, 

 look very much like a mold or fungus growth. 



7. Comatricha typhoides Rost. 



The stalked, plumose sporangia have a brown 

 colour overcast with a silvery sheen, which is due 

 to the remnants of the peridia. 



8. Craterium leucocephlalum Ditm. 



Small groups of minute, goblet-shaped, brownish 

 sporangia characteristic of this species were found 

 on dead balsam leaves. The brown colour is often 

 strongly masked by white. 



9. Dictydium cancellatum Macbr. 



The collection of this species is typical having 

 minute, globular brownish-red fruiting bodies 

 supported by short, slender stalks. 



10. Diderma spumarioides Fr. 



The typical sporangia, in this case, are small, 

 globular, sessile bodies of a gray colour. Instead 

 of the usual substratum of birch bark this speci- 

 men fruited on a poplar leaf and the sporangia 

 covered both sides. 



11. Fuligo septica Gmel. 



Two collections were made. One, about 1 cm. 

 in diameter, has a pale yellow lime crust over the 

 surface of the fruiting body with large yellow lime 

 knots; the other, 3 cm. in diameter, has a white 

 lime crust with large yellow lime knots. When the 

 spores have been partly shaken out the surface has 

 a peculiar fluffy appearance, which resembles, in 

 miniature, the remains of a wasp's nest. 



12. Leocarpus fragilis Rost. 



The sporangia are brownish, short-stalked, 

 obovoid structures. The peridium forms a rather 

 solid crust over the surface of the sporangium. 



13. Lycogala epidendrum Fr. 



Large globular fruiting bodies of a brownish 

 colour are characteristic of this species and are 

 easily recognized because of their size and com- 

 monness. 



14. Mucilago spongiosa Morg. 



The grayish sporgania are grouped in stalked, 

 grape-like clusters arising from the white hypo- ^^ 

 thallus. The lime crust, which is usually present, '^ 

 has disappeared. The sethalium is 8 cm. long an^^^ 



SA 



