ClENKOWSKIA 85 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. pi. 71. 



One of the most beautiful of the Mycetozoa, and fortunately 

 not uncommon; nor can it be confused with anything else. It is 

 often found on rubbish piles in company with Physarum poly- 

 cephalum or Physarum gyrosum, so that all three species may be 

 looked for if one is present. They all form large developments, 

 spreading over a considerable area with many colonies. 



Genus 6. ClENKOWSKIA Rostafinski, Versuch 9. 1873. 



Fructification plasmodiocarpous, vari-colored yellow, red, and 

 brown; sporangial wall persistent below. Capillitium a dense 

 network of rigid threads with many sharp pointed branchlets or 

 spines, and numerous flattened, angular or branching nodules 

 composed of lime-granules, or in the form of calcareous plates 

 transversely placed. 



A SINGLE SPECIES. 



1. Cienkowskia reticulata (Alb. & Schw.) Rost. Versuch 9. 

 1873. 



Physarum reticulatum Alb. & Schw. Consp. Fung. 90. 1805. 

 Diderma reticulatum (Alb. & Schw.) Fries, Syst. Myc. 3: 112. 1829. 



Plasmodium deep orange-red (Lister). Plasmodiocarps scat- 

 tered, cylindrical, simple, branched or netted, 0.3 to 0.5 mm. diam., 

 attached by a narrow base, or confluent and applanate, mottled 

 yellow, orange, red, or brown, or entirely red; sporangial wall 

 membranous, stouter and persistent below, yellow, with closely 

 set deposits of lime, marked with the bases of the calcareous parts 

 of the capillitium. Capillitium a dense, elastic network of rigid, 

 yellow threads with many pointed branchlets or spines, and sur- 

 rounding numerous, large, angular, branching or irregular, white 

 or yellow nodules composed of lime-granules, which are usually 

 flattened, or often formed as flattened plates transversely placed; 

 the capillitium delicately attached to the sporangial wall or its 

 lime-deposits, so that it becomes detached eventually as an entire 

 mass. Spores violet or violet-brown, minutely spinulose, 9-12 /x 

 diam. (Plate 8, fig. 6.) 



Type locality: Germany. 



Habitat: On dead wood. 



Distribution: California, *Canal Zone, Colorado, Iowa, 

 Kansas, New York, *Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec. 



