NOTES ON SOUTH NIGERIAN MYCETOZOA 131 



niornino- and began to form sporangia at about 7 a.m." He adds 

 that the white plasmodium of D. leticopoda which happened to 

 develop about the same time always emerged in the evening, and 

 the sporangia produced were much more scattered than in D. 

 radiata. It is interesting that the two first gatherings of this 

 species should come from such widely separated locahties as 

 Ceylon and W. Africa. The spores in the Ceylon specimen average 

 10/>t,and are rather paler than in those from Nigeria, which average 

 9 /x ; they appear to be distinctly rougher than the spores of 

 D. leticopoda. The columella is often almost or entirely free from 

 deposits of lime-granules, and then consists of a slender colourless 

 or pale-yellow membranous tube, from which many of the capil- 

 litium threads arise. Similar membranous columellse are seen in 

 D. cylindrica Bilgram, and D. ccesjntosa (Sturgis) Lister ; in the 

 few gatherings that have been obtained of those two rare species 

 calcareous deposits are absent, not only from the columella, but 

 from the hypothallus also. The specific name radiata of the 

 present species refers to the radiating branches of the plasmodium 

 and hypothallus. 



Stemonitis fusca Roth. Not unfrequent at Ibadan. Two of 

 the gatherings Mr. Farquharson sends are unusual forms : in one 

 the capillitium is prickly with many long spines standing out 

 from the close surface net ; the other specimen, gathered on a 

 prostrate oil palm, is a weak form of the var. flaccida ; the droop- 

 ing sporangia have an imperfect and very wide-meshed surface- 

 net connected with the columella by few slender threads ; the 

 spores are purplish-grey when magnified, 7 to 8 /x diam., and 

 closely reticulated. 



S. SPLENDENS Rost. Abundant at Ibadan. One specimen 

 consisted of a forest of sporangia 20 mm. high, covering an area 

 of nearly fourteen square inches. — Var. Webberi Lister ; found 

 both at Ibadan and Agege in fine condition. 



S. herbatica Peck. Frequent at Ibadan and Agege. Mr. 

 Farquharson has collected beautiful specimens, and also sends a 

 photograph showing tufts of sporangia covering the leaves and 

 part of the stem of a living herbaceous plant. — Var. confluens. 

 Lister ; Ibadan, immature when first found and forming masses 

 of whitish convolute sporangia partly on the ground, partly on 

 sticks and debris. These specimens closely resemble the previous 

 gatherings of this curious convolute form that have been obtained 

 in Britain, Ceylon, and New England; the capillitium consists of 

 an irregular network of threads combined with plates or curved 

 sheets of closer reticulation ; there are no distinct stalks or 

 columellae ; the pale spores average 7-5 /x, but many are much 

 larger : it is clearly an irregular development. 



CoMATRiCHA TYPHOiDEs (Bull.) Rost. A large growth of 

 scattered slender sporangia 5 mm. in total height was found at 

 Agege on dead wood. In many instances the membranous sheath 

 of the stalk is chiefly developed along one side, and is supported 

 by a row of stout, broad-based spines. 



C. PULCHELLA (Bab.) Rost, var. gracilis Lister. Abundant at 



