22 Mycetozoa of North America 



nearly 40 per cent of the sporangia, is not conspicuous in the 

 Colorado specimens where only traces of color are seen, although 

 the inside bases of the sporangia are occasionally tinted. The 

 spores show the usual more or less persistent effects from com- 

 pression in the clusters, tending to produce temporary ovoid or 

 ellipsoid bodies, but when swollen, they regain, in most instances, 

 the normal globose form. 



9. Badhamia decipiens (Curt.) Berk. Grevillea 2: 66. 1873. 



Physarum decipiens Curt. Am. Jour. Sc. II. 6: 352. 1848. (N. Y. B. G. 7io. 

 10738, type material.) 



Plasmodium yellow? (Lister). Sporangia sessile, scattered, 

 subglobose, 0.3 to 0.7 mm. diam., or forming terete curved or 

 straight plasmodiocarps up to 4 mm. in length, rugulose or nearly 

 smooth, yellow or orange; sporangial wall membranous, with 

 included clusters of yellow lime-granules, the wall yellow on the 

 inside. Capillitium yellow or pale orange, a coarse network 

 charged with yellow lime-granules, sometimes with a few hyaline 

 threads. Spores free, 10-13 /i diam., violet-brown, spinulose, 

 often paler and smoother on one side. 



Type locality: South Carolina. 



Habitat: On dead wood. 



Distribution: *Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New 

 York, *Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, South Carolina. 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. pi. 7. 



This species forms small developments, and is rare in North 

 America. It resembles sessile forms of Physarum oblatum, and is 

 difficult to separate. The usual presence of plasmodiocarps, the 

 more complete badhamioid capillitium, and the somewhat darker 

 spores, are the distinguishing characters. The species is not 

 clearly understood by many students, as shown by specimens in 

 the Herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden. Forms more 

 often found, and erroneously regarded as B. decipiens, are Physa- 

 rum auriscalpium. They have depressed sporangia, with little 

 tendency to form plasmodiocarps. The lime-clusters on the wall 

 are reddish, yellow, or nearly white, more separated, so that the 

 darker wall shows between, and the appearance is mottled. 

 There is usually a red or brown base on the inside of the sporan- 

 gium, and the capillitium often has white or nearly white lime with 



