THA LLOPH VTA: F UNGl 



105 



hardens, forming a sclerotium. In this condition the organism may 

 remain dormant for months, or sometimes even for years, becoming 

 active again in the presence of water. 



Reproduction. Although the myxomycetes are animal-hke in their 

 vegetative state, their reproductive features are distinctly plant-like. 

 When reproduction is to occur, the entire Plasmodium comes to the 



B 



^^'^\'^~Pi^Z ~^ 



F G 



Fig. 82. Group of common slime molds, showing sporangia arising from the Plasmodium. 

 j4, Hemitrichia ovata, XlO; B, Craterum leucocephalum, XIO; C, Arcyria incarnata, X5; 

 D, Stemonitis herbatica, X2; E, Diachea leucopoda, XIO; F, Lycogala epidendrum, XI; G, 

 Fuligo septica, X J'^ . 



surface of its substratum and contracts into a cushion-like mass. As this 

 hardens, it forms one or more sporangia that are usually brown or yellow 

 (Fig. 82). In some myxomycetes the entire Plasmodium may be con- 

 verted into a single giant sporangium, called an aethalium, but, more 

 commonly, a number of small separate sporangia are formed. These 

 may be either sessile or stalked. Throughout the various genera the 

 sporangia exhibit much diversity in form, but are commonly spherical, 

 oval, or cjdindrical. The sporangium contains many nuclei and the 

 remains of the Plasmodium, the latter usually forming a network of 

 tough strands known as the capillitium (Fig. 83). In the meshes of this 



