TAXONOMY OF THE PILOBOLIDAE 



209 



trophocyst which projects somewhat above the substratum, but 

 several of these are often so closely aggregated together that they 

 form little tufts. Sporangium about 500 y. broad, not quite so 

 broad as the ovoid subsporangial swelHng, almost hemispherical, 

 black ; columella conical or subcyhndrical, slightly narrowed 

 in the middle, sometimes so high that it reaches almost to the 

 top of the sporangium ; spores globose, yellowish-red, 9-16 y. 

 diam. ; with a wall composed of 

 two distinct layers, of which the 

 outer (epispore) is thick and often 

 bluish. 



On dung of horses, cows, pigs, 

 goats, and mules ; it has also been 

 found on human excrement, and 

 it often occurs on decaying vege- 

 table substances such as Algae 

 (Spirogyra, Conferva, Oscillaria, 

 and so on), and therefore also on 

 the mud of river-banks (Thames, 

 Oder, Red River of Winnipeg, 

 etc.). It has been suggested that 

 perhaps its spores do not require 

 to pass through the alimentary 

 canal of an animal, but this seems 

 unlikely, since in a discharged 

 sporangium they adhere together 

 just as in other species of Pilobolus 

 easily in water. The name of this species should be spelled oedipv3 

 (adjectival), not OEdipus. 



Europe, E. Africa, N. America. Its round thick- walled spores 

 are characteristic, also the deep colour which it displays owing to 

 the crowded visible trophocysts. Chlamydospores [Mycogone anceps 

 Coem.), lying in the mycelium, globose or ovoid, orange-yellow, 

 oily-granular, 20-30 \j. in diameter, are assigned to this species by 

 Coemans, and by Ellis, North American Fungi (no. 3360) ; these 

 may be azygospores (cf. Fig. 106, G.). 



Illustration : Fig. 104. 



Fig. 



104. — Pilobolus Oedipus Mon- 

 tague. A, young fruit-body. B, 

 mature fruit -body. C, another 

 mature fruit-body, with the spor- 

 angium more flattened than 

 usual. D, spores. Copied by 

 A. H. R. Buller from Coemans' 

 Monograph ie and reduceil to two- 

 thirds. Magnification : A, 53 ; 

 B and C, 40 ; D, 200. 



They germinate, however. 



VOL. VI. 



