Stemonitis 145 



ComatricJia typhoides (Bull.) Rost. var. microspora Lister, Mycetozoa 121. 



1894. 

 Comatricha microspora G. Lister, Guide Brit. Mycet. ed. 4. 39. 1919. 



Sporangia loosely clustered or scattered; capillitium with a 

 close uneven surface-net, formed of flexuose threads; spores 3.5- 

 4 n diam. 



Type locality: New York. 



Habitat: On dead wood. 



Distribution: Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, 

 *North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, *Virginia, *Wash- 

 ington; var. microspora, *Ohio. 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. pi. 125, figs. d-i. 



The reticulations on the spores may be seen with a good lens, 

 but are faint, and the component structure is difficult to follow 

 with the best equipment, so that conceptions may differ. I be- 

 lieve it is similar to that on the spores of S. fusca. The point is 

 hardly material as the mere reticulate pattern is sufficient to 

 identify the species when other characters are present. The form 

 may be roughly recognized in the field by the small developments 

 of small, pale sporangia. Small phases of 5. axifera have more 

 slender sporangia with a more reddish color. S. hyperopta is not 

 difficult to find in any particular area in the East, by one familiar 

 with its appearance. I have found it repeatedly in New York 

 and Pennsylvania. 



3. Stemonitis virginiensis Rex, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. 1891: 

 391. 1891. (N. Y. B. G. nos. 6830, 7633, 11772, type ma- 

 terial.) 



Comatricha reticulata Gilb.; Peck & Gilb. Am. Jour. Bot. 19: 140. 1932. 



Plasmodium? Total height 2 to 8 mm. Sporangia in small 

 clusters, cylindrical, stalked, lilac-brown. Stalk 0.5 to 2 mm. 

 high. Capillitium a dense network of flexuose, dark brown 

 threads, the ultimate branchlets slender, uniting to form a smooth 

 or spinose, close surface-net, which is usually incomplete or some- 

 times absent entirely. Spores pale lilac-brown, 6-8 /x diam., re- 

 ticulate with narrow, raised bands. 



Type locality: Mountain Lake, Virginia. 



Habitat: On dead wood and leaves. 



Distribution: ^California, Colorado, Florida, *Iowa, New 

 Hampshire, New York, *Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, 

 Virginia. 



