• - ' BY D. McALPINE. 83 



generally a brownish tinge in these also and they are very similar 

 to those of P. cinerenm." 



This question of the colour of the spores is an important one 

 in fungi, because thei"e are some large families such as the 

 Ar/aricacecB in which the primary divisions are based upon the 

 colour of the spores, and there are some leading systematists who 

 wish to extend this principle to the various divisions of fungi. 

 The difficulty lies in the fact that there is often a combination of 

 colours to which it is almost impossible to give a common name, 

 and in this particular instance there is undoubtedly a brownish 

 tinge associated with the violet, so that one has to select the 

 prevailing tint. In the Ayaricacece already referred to, some 

 authors make one section for black spores (Melanosporse) and 

 another for pui^ple-black spores (Porphyrosporee), but I have 

 never yet seen any spores of the former in which there was not a 

 ^■iolet tinge, so that too minute distinctions of colour may defeat 

 the very object in view. 



The group of Myxomycetes has not yet been much attended to 

 in New South Wales, although it is a very interesting and 

 peculiar one. It is claimed both by botanists and zoologists, 

 because in its reproductive stages it produces distinct spores in a 

 powdery mass, which shows its affinity with fungi, but these 

 spores, instead of producing a mycelium, give rise to swarm- 

 cells, which coalesce to form a plasmodium. So those who pay 

 most attention to the reproductive phase, call this group Myx- 

 omijcetes, while those who consider that the formation of a 

 Plasmodium indicates a wide separation from the fungi and links 

 it on to the animal world, speak of it as Mycefozoa. About 550 

 species are known altogether, and of these 52 are recorded for 

 Australia and only 6 for New South Wales. They are here 

 given, with their distribution in other colonies, and named 

 according to Lister's Monograph: — 



1. Arcyria (Erstecltii, Rost. — New South Wales only. On 

 leaves of Atherospermum, Mount Wilson (Hamilton, 1888). 



Lister remarks in his Monograph under the heading of this 

 species : " The type specimen of Hemiarcyria fuliginea, Cooke 



