61 



Microscopic Moulds. 



i 



By M. C. Cooke. 

 (Read March 25th, 1870. — Continued from page 53.) 



One other mould from this order, and I must pass on to the 

 next. It is less common, but perhaps even more beautiful. Some- 

 times a decaying stem of Burdock, or similar plant, will be found 

 lying upon the ground in a damp situation, covered for two or three 

 inches of its length with a mould of snowy whiteness. 



' ' Take it up tenderly, 

 Touch it with care." 



It is so delicate that the slightest breath or shake is sufficient to 

 disperse the spores. Mycologists call it Botryosporium pulchrum, and 

 it deserves it. This is one of two British species, neither of which, 

 in my experience, is common. The threads are sometimes simple 

 and sometimes branched, very long for the size of the mould, and 

 flexuous or curved on account of their length. The lower portion 

 of the threads is naked for perhaps a quarter of their length. Above 

 this space short ramuli, or sporophores, are set on at regular 

 distances throughout the rest of the thread. Each of these sporo- 

 phores is narrowed at its point of junction with the stem ; at the 

 other extremity it is surmounted by four little spicules, and each 

 spicule supports a globose head of spores, so that four heads of 

 spores terminate each sporophore, and these together form a com- 

 pound head. The excellent figure in Corda's " Prachtflora" would 

 give a better idea of this mould than any description that I can 

 furnish. 



From these examples it will be evident that much of the generic 

 character of the Mucedines depends on the mode of grouping and 

 attachment of the spores, hence it is of primary importance that 

 all specimens collected or mounted should have the spores in situ. 

 Whatever hints I may be able to offer towards securing this object 

 will be given at the close of this paper. 



Journ. Q. M. C. No. 11. F 



