168 Mycetozoa of North America 



grayish or brownish violet, 8-10 /z diam., spinulose, the spines 

 forming a close reticulation. 



Type locality: New York. 



Habitat: On dead wood. 



Distribution: Common in eastern continental North Amer- 

 ica; *Iowa, Puerto Rico, *St. Jan, St. Thomas, *Wisconsin. 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa cd. 3. pi. 122, figs. a-e. 



The spores arc very much like those of Stemonitis fusca. The 

 long, drooping, narrow sporangia cannot be mistaken. There are 

 occasional weak, small develoi^ments of smaller sporangia which 

 resemble sporangia of C. irregularis, but the latter species has 

 stouter and comparatively longer stalks, and the spores are not 

 reticulate. 



17. Comatricha Rispaudii Hagelstein, Mycologia 21: 297. 1929. 

 (N. Y. B. G. no. 1017 A, type.) 



Plasmodium? Sporangia sessile, cylindrical or clavate- 

 cylindrical, clustered in dense groups of up to 30 or more, some- 

 times superimposed, violet-brown, 0.8 to 1.5 mm. high, 0.4 to 

 0.6 mm. thick; sporangial wall evanescent above, persisting at the 

 base and frequently forming pseudo-cups which blend with the 

 hypothallus. Columella dark brown, stout at the base but be- 

 coming slender, solid, sinuose and irregular, extending either to 

 the apex or merging into the capillitium. The latter consists of 

 branching and anastomosing brown threads, spreading from all 

 parts of the columella, and generally coarsely meshed within. 

 Spores pale violet-brown, 8-9 n diam., reticulate with narrow, 

 raised ridges, 0.5 m high. (Plate 11, figs. 5, 6; plate 12, fig. 1.) 



Type locality: Long Island, New York. 



Habitat: On dead leaves, in dryer portions of wet, wooded 



areas. 



Distribution: Florida, New Hampshire, New York, Penn- 

 sylvania, Virginia. 



Illustration: Hagelstein, Mycologia 21: pi. 26, figs. 1-3. 



In habit, the species resembles the groups of clustered sporan- 

 gia of Diachea cylindrica and D. caespitosa, but the color is dif- 

 ferent, the spores beautifully reticulate with raised bands, and 

 it is a Comatricha. It is remarkably constant in characters and 

 easily recognized. I have found it repeatedly on Long Island and 

 in Pike County, Pennsylvania. 



