208 THE MYXOMYCETES 



2. Cribraria splendens {Schrad.) Pers. 



Syn. Meth. Fung. 191. 1801. 

 PI. XIV, Figs. 332, 333. 



1797. Dictydium splendens Schrad., Nov. Gen. PI. 14, pi. 4, figs. 5, 6. 

 1808. Trichia splendens (Schrad.) Poir., in Lam. Encycl. 8 : 55. 



Sporangia gregarious, globose, 0.3-0.7 mm. in diameter, yellow 

 when filled with spores, dull or dusky brown when these are dis- 

 charged, stipitate; stipe long, 3-4 times the sporangium, subulate, 

 erect-nodding, brown; hypothallus small; network brown, with large 

 meshes, imperfectly defined, flattened nodes and flattened threads; 

 calyculus none, its place supplied by nine or ten distinct, firm ribs 

 which radiate from the stipe and support the net, branching to blend 

 with its reticulations; spore-mass yellow; spores by transmitted light 

 colorless, smooth or nearly so, 6-7 ji. Plasmodium lead colored. 



Differing from all other species in the peculiar ribs which take the 

 place of the calyculus. The color is a glistening yellow or brown. 

 The stipe displays a purple iridescence in bright sunlight; in duller 

 light it appears purplish brown. 



Widely distributed, but rare. Nova Scotia, Ontario, New York, 

 Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wyoming, Washington, West Indies; Europe, 

 Malay Peninsula, Japan. 



3. Cribraria microcarpa {Schrad.) Pers. 



Syn. Meth. Fung. 190. 1801. 

 PI. XIV, Figs. 334, 335, 336. 



1797. Dictydium microcarpum Schrad., Nov. Gen. PI. 13, pi. 4, figs. 3, 4. 

 1808. Trichia microcarpa (Schrad.) Poiret, in Lam. Encycl. 8 : 54. 



Sporangia scattered, yellow ochraceous, globose, stipitate, nodding, 

 0.15-0.4 mm. in diameter; calyculus none, net arising directly from 

 the stipe, the meshes large, mostly rectangular, a few triangular; 

 nodes thickened, rounded, small, dark brown, granular; connecting 

 threads stout, transparent, free ends few or none; stipe dark purplish 

 brown, 0.5-1.5 mm. long, furrowed, slender, tapering upward; spore- 

 mass yellow, fading to ochraceous; spores by transmitted light pale, 

 minutely spinulose, 6-7 /jl. Plasmodium purplish black according to 

 Lister; in our experience colorless except as colored by material from 

 the substratum. 



At first sight resembling C. tenella, but the sporangia are smaller, 

 the meshes of the net larger, the nodes smaller and fewer in number, 

 the stipe shorter, the calyculus lacking and the ribs few and simple. 

 In the Lister monograph the color is given as purplish red with the 



