Physarum 65 



42. Physarum ovisporum G. Lister, Jour. Bot. 59: 90. 1921. 



Plasmodium white (G. Lister). Sporangia scattered, sessile, 

 pulvinate, 0.5 to 0.8 mm. diam., or forming straight, curved or 

 irregular plasmodiocarps, white; sporangial wall roughened with 

 deposits of lime-granules, often with smoother areas where the 

 lime is scanty. Capillitium of numerous, white, rounded or 

 angular lime-knots, varying in size, connected by short hyaline 

 threads. Spores purplish brown, either globose, 9-11 n diam., or 

 ovoid, 10 X 12 to 13 ix, minutely warted, often with a pale, 

 smooth line of dehiscence. 



Type locality: England. 



Habitat: On dead leaves, twigs, and ground wood. 



Distribution: Kansas, New York. 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. pi. 202, figs. a-c. 



This appears to be a center for forms similar to P. cinereum, 

 but with spores somewhat darker and ovoid in shape. Globose 

 and ovoid spores are present together in the sporangia. Collec- 

 tions made by Mr. Travis E. Brooks, in Kansas, are typical, with 

 rounded lime-knots as described b\- Miss Lister for the English 

 gatherings. On Long Island, New York, I have found repeatedly 

 similar forms with ovoid spores and a pale, smooth dehiscence 

 line, but these have angular lime in the capillitium. The mani- 

 fest character is in the spores, and variations in the capillitium 

 must be expected as in P. cinereum. 



43. Physarum superbum Hagelstein, Mycologia 32: 385. 1940. 



PhysaruDi variabile Rex var. sessile Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 2. 47, in part; pi. 22, 

 fig.a,nonb. 1911. (N. Y. B. G. wo. /i027, type material.) 



Physarum sessile Brandza, Ann. Sc. Univ. Jassy 11: 116, in part? 1921; 

 Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. 55, in part; pi. 22, fig. a, non b. 1925. 



Physarum aureum{?) Brandza, Bull. Soc. Myc. Fr. 44: 261. 1928. Not 

 P. aureum Pars. 1794. 



Plasmodium? Fructification mainly in simple, sinuous, 

 branched, netted or annular plasmodiocarps up to 12 mm. in 

 length, more or less laterally compressed and on broad bases, 

 yellow to orange-red, and with cylindrical, clavate or laterally 

 compressed sporangia intermingled; sporangial wall with heavy 

 deposits of yellow or orange-red lime-granules, often unevenly 

 distributed or scanty in the lower part, and presenting a mottled 

 appearance. Capillitium of numerous, angular or branching, 



