BADHAMIA 29 



peridium thin, translucent; stipe, when present, as in B. utricularis, 

 although generally shorter and better developed, yellow or straw 

 colored; capillitium a very loose, open network of white, lime-filled 

 tubules, not much expanded at the nodes; columella none; spore-mass 

 purplish brown; spores adhering in clusters of five or six to twenty or 

 more, globose, but affected somewhat by mutual pressure, warted, 

 delicately where attached, more distinctly on the exposed surfaces, 

 10-12 ix. Plasmodium white to chrome yellow. 



This includes Badhamia hyalina (Pers.) Berk., regarded by Rosta- 

 finski as distinct, but the latter admits that the two species, as he 

 defined them, are very much alike, having "the same spores and 

 capillitium," differing in the form of the sporangium, an inconstant 

 feature. Bulliard's name has precedence; his descriptions of this and 

 of B. utricularis are remarkable. 



The adherent spores distinguish the species from B. utricularis; 

 and the sporangia sessile or with short but strand-like stipes, dis- 

 tinguish it from B. papaveracea. The plasmodia are small and hence 

 the resulting clusters of sporangia are of limited extent as compared 

 with a species such as B. utricularis which often fruits over a wide area. 



The description as given applies to the typical European form. Col- 

 lections from Iowa and Colorado are white, aggregate, superimposed, 

 but have the capillitium and spores exactly as described for the type. 

 They approach B. populina as it occurs in Colorado and hence the 

 latter species has for years been referred to the Berkeley species. The 

 thicker and more strongly calcareous peridia constitute, as would 

 appear, the principal difference in the forms from Colorado. Such 

 differences are no doubt largely due to the drier meteorological condi- 

 tions of the western Mississippi valley; the climate is semi-arid as 

 compared with that of western Europe. Eastern Europe, on the other 

 hand, in its glacial history and meteorology, offers greater similarities, 

 as is brought out in Brandza's discussion (1929), and these similarities 

 are reflected in the striking similarity of the Myxomycete population 

 of the two regions. 



Iowa, Colorado; Europe, Australia. 



Var. repens G. List., Essex Nat. 18 : 319, 1918, characterized by 

 slender, curved plasmodiocarps, occurs in Rumania and Japan. 



Var. arborea G. List., Mycetozoa ed. 3. 10, 1925, with small scat- 

 tered sporangia, 0.3-0.5 mm., and spores pale purplish gray, globose 

 or oval, 13-16 fx, is reported from Scotland. 



Var. major Brandza, Bull. Soc. Myc. Fr. 44 : 252, 1929, is described 

 as sessile or with a short membranous stalk, the capillitium scanty or 

 lacking and the spores mostly free. Rumania. 



