204 Mycetozoa of North America 



Sporangial wall membranous. 



Plasmodiocarps about 0.3 mm. long, 0.1 mm. wide, yellow, 



dehiscing by a longitudinal fissure. 5. L. bijoris 



Sporangia subglobose or ovoid, 0.2 to 0.5 mm. diam., 



olive-yellow or black. 6. L. tenera 



1. Licea minima Fries, Syst. Myc. 3: 199. 1829. 



Plasmodium drab, slate-colored, watery gray, or pale yellow 

 (Lister). Sporangia scattered, subglobose or hemispherical, an- 

 gular with prominent, shining ridges of dehiscence, 0.2 to 0.5 mm. 

 diam., chestnut-brown or nearly black, dehiscing by several lobes; 

 sporangial wall cartilaginous, dark brown, opaque with granular 

 deposits, except the margins of the lobes which are usually dotted 

 on the inner side with minute, peg-like warts 1-2 n diam. Spores 

 olivaceous brown or lilac-brown, spinulose, 9-12 n diam., the wall 

 thinner on one side. 



Type locality: Europe 



Habitat: On dead coniferous wood. 



Distribution: Alabama, *Colorado, *Iowa, Kansas, Maine, 

 Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ontario, 

 Pennsylvania, Quebec. 



Illustration: Lister, Mycetozoa ed. 3. pi. 148, figs. d-f. 



The spores are sometimes violet-brown, an exception to the 

 rule in the order Cribrariales . Specimens from Kansas show 

 this nicely. The sporangia of the species vary much in size in 

 the same development, and are usually dark, almost black. This 

 makes it somewhat difficult to see the sporangia in the field if 

 the wood is wet. The dehiscence-ridges are usually straight, but 

 may be irregular in some sporangia of a colony, somewhat as 

 in L. pusilla, a closely related species. 



2. Licea castanea G. Lister, Jour. Bot. 49: 61. 1911. 



Plasmodium? Sporangia scattered, sessile, subglobose, or 

 forming bolster-shaped plasmodiocarps, 0.2 to 0.9 mm. long, 0.2 

 to 0.4 mm. broad, chestnut or pale brown, smooth or wrinkled; 

 sporangial wall somewhat cartilaginous, nearly colorless or pale 

 brown, overlaid by a more or less continuous layer of brown granu- 

 lar refuse matter, dehiscing along definite lines to form plates or 

 lobes whose margins are often marked with a row of minute warts 

 1 n diam. Spores in mass olive-yellow, almost colorless by trans- 

 mitted light, smooth, 8-10 n diam., the walls thinner on one side. 



