174 Mycetozoa of North America 



Distribution: ^British Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, 

 *Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, 

 Pennsylvania, *South Carolina, Utah, *Washington, West Vir- 

 ginia. 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. pi. 131, figs, a-g, k-m. 



This species is common in wet areas along the Atlantic sea- 

 board, forming small developments on tufts of moss, and moss\- 

 logs or stumps, each colony varying somewhat. It is very con- 

 stant in the characters of the spores, but shows much variation in 

 the shape of the sporangia, the stalk, the columella, and the capil- 

 litium. A number of varieties have been proposed on these 

 variations, but only one, var. gracile, is known from North Amer- 

 ica. Most of the eastern material is that variety, but as it is 

 usually associated with the typical form having short and straight 

 stalks, it is hardly a distinct variety. The species is distinguished 

 from L. scintillans by the usual brilliant, blue color, the larger 

 size, and the characters of the spores. The capillitium occa- 

 sionally springs from all parts of the columella. 



5. Lamproderma violaceum (Fries) Rost. Versuch 7. 1873. 



Stemonitis violacea Fries, Syst. Myc. 3: 162. 1829. 



Plasmodium watery white, rarely yellow (Lister). Total 

 height 0.6 to 1.5 mm. Sporangia stalked, subglobose, more or 

 less flattened and umbilicate beneath, erect, scattered or gre- 

 garious, 0.4 to 0.9 mm. diam., shining with iridescent blue, violet, 

 or bronze reflections; sporangial wall membranous, somewhat 

 persistent, colorless or pale violet-brown, often sprinkled with 

 small, scattered, slender, hyaline rods 50-100 ^ long, which ap- 

 pear to be of a crystalloid nature. Stalk varying from very short 

 to one and a half times the height of the sporangium, black, rising 

 from a reddish brown membranous hypothallus. Columella one 

 third to two thirds the height of the sporangium, cylindrical, 

 obtuse, or sometimes narrowing to the apex. Capillitium of 

 brown threads, or brown threads with pale extremities, or entirely 

 pale throughout, springing from the upper part of the columella, 

 branching and anastomosing to form a more or less dense net- 

 work, becoming very slender towards the surface. Spores pur- 

 plish gray, minutely spinulose, 8-10 fj. diam. 



Var. Sauteri (Rost.) Lister, Mycetozoa 129. 1894. 

 Lamproderma Sauteri Rost. Mon. 205. 1874. 



