178 Mycetozoa of North America 



characters of the spores, but in all three the capillitium is dark 

 to the tips, which are expanded and attached to the sporangial 

 wall. The latter is the important character on which the species 

 is based. Var. angUcum and var. dehile (N. Y. B. G. nos. 7238, 

 7242, authentic material), have so far been found only in England. 

 They seem to be intermediate forms connecting the species with 

 L. criharioides and L. Gulielmae. 



Genus 20. CLASTODERMA Blytt, Hot. Zeit. 38: 343. 

 1880. 



Sporangia stalked; columella very short; capillitium rising 

 from the apex of the columella as solid, pale brown threads, re- 

 peatedly forking, sparingly anastomosing; sporangial wall divid- 

 ing into membranous rounded or polygonal fragments, attached to 

 one or several of the ultimate branches of the capillitium. 



A SINGLE SPECIES. 



1. Clastoderma Debaryanum Blytt, Bot. Zeit. 38: 343. 1880. 



Orthotricha microcephala Wing. Jour. Myc. 2: 125. 1886. 



Plasmodium watery white (Lister). Total height 0.5 to 1.25 

 mm. Sporangia gregarious, stalked, globose, 0.1 to 0.2 mm. 

 diam., brown; sporangial wall membranous, persistent only in 

 circular or polygonal plates attached to the ultimate branches of 

 the capillitium. Stalk dark red with enclosed refuse matter, 

 rough, tapering for three quarters of its length to a swollen mass, 

 usually free from refuse, and then becoming abruptly more slen- 

 der, thinner, and translucent. Columella short, dividing into the 

 primary branches of the capillitium. Capillitium of pale brown 

 threads, forking three or four times, sparingly anastomosing at 

 the surface, the ultimate branch lets attached singly or several 

 together to the persistent plates of the sporangial wall. Spores 

 pale brownish violet, faintly warted, 8-10 n diam. 



Type locality: Norway. 



Habitat: On dead wood. 



Distribution: Florida, *Illinois, Iowa, *Maine, Massachu- 

 setts, New York, North Carolina, *Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, 

 Tennessee. 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. pi. 135. 



The peculiar stalk is a feature by which this species, although 

 small, may be recognized in the field with a good lens. By trans- 



