209 



NOTES ON SOME RA.RE SPECIES OF MYOETOZOA. 

 By Arthur Lister, F.L.S. 



Badhamia foliicola, n. sp. A species of Badhamia belonging 

 to the group with free spores, which appears to have been hitherto 

 undescribed, was obtained in considerable abundance in Waustead 

 Park, Essex, in September, 1896. It was found in rather large 

 growths, scattered over an area of several yards, on deeply-strewn 

 dead leaves of sycamore and Spanish chestnut. The sporangia are 

 mostly hemispherical, O'5-l mm. diam., sessile and rather crowded; 

 some are pyriform on orange-brown stalks 0*2 mm. long, standing 

 either singly or in clusters of three to six. The colour is dark 

 grey, violet, or softly iridescent in consequence of the membranous 

 sporangium-wall being free from deposits of lime ; the grey colour 

 is caused, as seen under the microscope, by reflections from the 

 minutely plicate wall. The capillitium is of the usual Badhamia 

 character, forming a network of broad strands, but is almost 

 destitute of lime. The free spores are violet-brown, very minutely 

 warfced, and closely resemble those of B. jmnicea Rost. On some 

 of the leaves an orange-brown sclerotium was observed ; this 

 revived after being in water for a few hours, and the yellow 

 Plasmodium spread over the leaves for a couple of days, when 

 it changed to sessile sporangia similar to those gathered in 

 the Park in all respects, except that the lime in the capilUtium 

 was more abundant. Another gathering was obtained on a large 

 heap of dead leaves at Highcliff, Lyme Regis, on 18th February, 

 1897. The sporangia were all sessile, and grey with an iridescent 

 shot, exactly resembling those found in Essex. 



There is a specimen in the Strassburg collection which closely 

 resembles our gatherings in the grey, membranous sporangium-wall 

 and in the broad network of the capillitium almost destitute of lime. 

 The sporangia are sessile on the stalks and refuse skins of grapes. 

 It may be the same species, but in our ignorance of the colour of 

 the Plasmodium it is difficult to be certain, for, in common with 

 our gatherings, it agrees in all other characters, except in the 

 habitat, with some limeless forms of Badhamia panicea Rost. It 

 was named Badhamia verna Rost. — syu. Physanim vernum Somf. 

 Accepting the specimen as a type of that species, I suggested that 

 B. verna was a form of B. panicea (Brit. Museum Catalogue of 

 Mycetozoa, 31). Prof. A. Blytt, of Christiania, has kindly supplied 

 me with part of the original type of I'Jujmrum vernum, gathered by 

 Sommerfelt in 1827. It is a true P/(//.s7< /-urn, as shown in the' de- 

 scription of the species in the sequel, and has no resemblance to our 

 gatherings or to the Strassburg specimen above mentioned. I take 

 this opportunity to correct my suggestion with regard to Badhamia 

 rerna in the B. M. Catalogue. 



I propose the name of Badhamia foliicola on account of the 

 Plasmodium inhabiting dead leaves, and this feature, together with 

 the yellow colour as contrasted with the white plasmodium of 

 B. panicea, are the grounds for claiming it as a new species. 



Journal of Botany. — Vol. 35. [Junk, 1897.] p 



