880 



ORDER VIII. MYXOBACTERALES 



a. Cysts not pointed, 

 b. Cysts rounded. 



c. Ripe cysts orange-red. 



2. Chondromyces aurantiacus. 

 cc. Ripe cysts dark chestnut-brown. 



3. Chondromyces brunneus. 

 bb. Cysts cylindrical. 



4. Chondromyces cylindricus. 

 aa. Cysts pointed. 



5. Chondromyces apiculatns. 

 2. Cysts attached to stalk by pedicel or stipe. 



a. Cysts with flattened tips. 



6. Chondromyces pediculatus. 

 aa. Cysts rounded. 



7. Chondromyces medius. 

 B. Cysts arranged in chains. 



8. Chondromyces catenulatiis . 



1. Chondromyces crocatus Berkeley 

 and Curtis, 1874. (Berkeley and Curtis, in 

 Berkeley, Introduction to Cryptogamic 

 Botany, London, 1857, 313 (illustration but 

 no description); Berkelej^ (description). 

 Notes on North American Fungi, Grevillea, 

 3, 1874, 64.) 



cro.ca'tus. L. adj. crocatus saffron-yellow. 



Vegetative cells: Cylindrical rods with 

 blunt, rounded ends, 1.3 to 1.7 by 3.0 to 11.0 

 microns. 



Fruiting body: The cysts are at first spin- 

 dle-shaped, widening at the base to become 

 almost conical in the mature state. Ini- 

 tially straw-colored, they finally turn golden 

 yellow. When mature, they are attached to 

 the stalk by the remains of pedicels. Cysts 

 are borne in spherical groups at the tips of 

 stalks which are almost always branched. 

 The stalks are 600 microns or more in height, 

 covered with longitudinal striations and 

 sometimes spirally twisted. Originally 

 orange in color, they eventuallj^ turn brown. 

 Mature cysts are 9 to 16 by 15 to 37 microns; 

 the resting cells within them are 1.0 to 1.2 

 by 2.4 to 3.8 microns. 



Source: Isolated from a decayed gourd 

 from South Carolina. Also found by Thaxter 

 (Bot. Gaz., 17, 1892) on melon rind from 

 south Carolina and on old straw from Cey- 

 lon and Cambridge, Mass. Quehl (Cent. f. 

 Bakt., II Abt., 16, 1906) foimd it on dung 

 from Java and on deer dung from Berlin. 



Habitat: Found on decaying organic 

 matter in soil and in the dung of various 

 animals. 



Illustrations: Berkeley (op. cit., 1857, 

 313), Thaxter (op. cit., 1892, 389, Pis. 22 and 

 23, Figs. 1-11), Quehl {op. cit., 1906, 9, PI. 1, 

 Fig. 10) and Jahn (Kryptogamenflora der 

 Mark Brandenburg, V, Pilze I, Lief 2, 1911, 

 199, Fig. 6; also see Beitrage zur bot. Pro- 

 tistologie. I, Die Polyangiden. Geb. Born- 

 traeger, Leipzig, 1924, PI. 2, Figs. 14-16). 



2. Chondromyces aurantiacus (Berke- 

 ley and Curtis, 1874) Thaxter, 1892. {Stig- 

 matella aurantiaca Berkeley and Curtis, in 

 Berkele}^ Introduction to Cryptogamic 

 Botany, London, 1857, 313 (illustration but 

 no description); Berkeley, (description), 

 Notes on North American Fungi, Grevillea, 

 S, 1874, 97; Thaxter, Bot. Gaz., 17, 1892, 

 339.) 



au.ran.ti'a.cus. M.L. adj. aiirantiacxis 

 orange-colored. 



Vegetative cells: Rods which taper to- 

 wards the ends, 0.6 to 1.0 by 4.0 to 10.0 mi- 

 crons, flesh-colored in mass. 



Fruiting bodies: Cysts ellipsoidal or 

 spherical, 16 to 40 by 30 to 60 microns. Origi- 

 nally flesh-colored, they become a vivid 

 orange -red during maturation; may turn 

 chestnut-brown when kept for long periods 

 in moist air. The stalk, 135 to 400 microns 

 high, is usually nearly colorless, sometimes 

 a light yellow-brown, and in most cases is 

 unbranched. Resting cells in cysts are 0.8 

 to 1.0 by 2.5 to 3.5 microns. 



Source: Isolated from a lichen. Berkeley 

 and Broome (Jour. Linn. Soc, H, 1873, 96, 

 see Saccardo, Sylloge Fungorum, 4, 1886, 



