LICEA 225 



than plasmodiocarpous fructification and in the thinner walls with 

 little refuse matter. 



Iowa, Oregon; Bavaria, England, Rumania. 



3. Licea castanea G. List. 



Jour. Bot. 49 : 61. 1911. 



Sporangia scattered, sessile, subglobose or forming short plasmodio- 

 carps, 0.2-0.9 mm. long, 0.2-0.4 mm. wide, chestnut or pale brown; 

 sporangium wall dehiscing along definite lines to form plates or lobes; 

 spores olive-yellow in mass, almost colorless under the microscope, 

 smooth, 8-10 fx. 



Differing from L. minima in the paler sporangia and smaller, smooth, 

 pale spores. 



Scotland, Switzerland. 



4. Licea minima Fr. 



Syst. Myc. 3 : 199. 1829. 

 PL XV, Figs. 377, 378. 



1892. Tubulina minima (Fr.) Mass., Mon. 36. 



Sporangia gregarious, sessile, umber-brown, spherical or hemi- 

 spherical, mostly 0.2-0.4 mm. in diameter; peridium opaque, brown, 

 opening along prefigured lines, forming segments with dotted margins, 

 ultimately widely reflexed; spores in mass dark brown, by transmitted 

 light paler with olive tints, globose to slightly oval, minutely roughened 

 or nearly smooth, mostly 10-11 fx. Plasmodium yellow. 



The very minute sporangia of this species cause it to be overlooked 

 generally by collectors. Nevertheless, it is not infrequent, usually on 

 bark or decaying wood. An abundant collection from Colorado is on 

 an old polypore. The larger specimens might be mistaken for species of 

 Perichaena, but are easily distinguished by the regular and lobate 

 dehiscence. 



Doctor George Rex, in almost the last paper from his hand, gives an 

 interesting account of this diminutive species. Among various gather- 

 ings studied he found a black variety, and was able to follow the evolu- 

 tion of the sporangia from the yellow plasmodium. The sutures by 

 which the peridium opens first show signs of differentiation by change 

 of color from yellow through garnet to black. Later the entire wall 

 undergoes similar color changes, beginning next the completed sutural 

 delimitations. The reflexed segments of the open sporangia remind 

 one of certain didermas, as D. radiatum. See Bot. Gaz. 19 : 399. 



New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Colorado; Europe, 

 Japan. 



