DIDERMA] physaraceae 113 



the case, may be loaded with lime-granules ; or the lime may be only 

 partially present, forming a white cap to a dark sporangium, or the 

 sporangia may be dark brown with little or no lime in the wall. The 

 Plasmodium is usually pale yellow or almost white, but a variety has 

 been found by Dr. H. Ronn, in the neighbourhood of Kiel, with coral- 

 red plasmodium ; the resulting sporangia are of the grey form, while 

 the lime in the stalk and columella is pale pink instead of white. The 

 specimen in Berkeley's herbarium named Diderma Carmichaelianum, 

 K. 354, is a sessile form of D. radiatum. No note as to locality is 

 given ; it agrees perfectly, however, with Berkeley's description of 

 D. Carmichaelianum, and is probably his type from Appin, N.B. 

 Rostafinski has marked the label " Chondrioderma radiatum." 



The type of Chondrioderma Stahlii Rost. from near Strassburg does 

 not appear in the quoted collections. It is described as follows : — 

 Sporangia globose, brownish, glossy ; sporangium-wall with scanty 

 deposits of lime-granules, dehiscing irregularly ; columella none, stalk 

 brown, shining; the capillitium consisting of dull violet, simple or 

 branching threads 1*2 to 2 - 3 //. diam.; the spores pale violet, faintly 

 warted, 92 fi> diam. Possibly this may be a form of D. radiatum, the 

 columella of which is sometimes inconspicuous. 



Hab. On dead wood, twigs, etc. — Epping Forest, Essex (B.M. 

 2425) ; Boynton, Yorks (B.M. 1063) ; Hexham, Northumberland 

 (B.M. 2426) ; Flitwick, Beds (B.M. 1310) ; Devon (B.M. 1308) 

 North Wales (B.M. 2427) ; Scotland (B.M. 2428) ; Norway (B.M. 531) 

 Sweden (B.M. 2429) ; Poland (Strassb. Herb.) ; Germany (B.M. 2430) 

 Switzerland (B.M. 2431) ; Italy (B.M. 532) ; Portugal (B.M. 2433) 

 Japan (B.M. 2432) ; Virginia (B.M. 1311) ; Colorado (B.M. 2434). 



14. D. roanense Macbr. N. Am. Slime-Moulds, 104 (1899). 

 Plasmodium ? Sporangia scattered, stalked, hemispherical, 

 depressed or discoidal, 0*8 to 1*2 mm. diam., mottled red- 

 brown, or dark umber, with paler lines of dehiscence ; sporan- 

 gium-wall dehiscing irregularly or in a somewhat stellate 

 manner, consisting of two layers, the outer cartilaginous, 

 brown on the outer white on the inner side, more or less 

 adhering to the membranous inner layer. Stalk rather slender, 

 black, furrowed, 01 to 07 mm. high. Columella flat, discoidal, 

 ochraceous-brown. Capilhtium consisting of slender simple or 

 branched colourless threads. Spores purplish-brown, spinulose, 

 10 to 14 /a diam. — Chondrioderma roanense Rex in Proc. Ac. 

 Nat. Sci. Phil., 1893, 368. See note under C. radiatum Lister 

 Mycetozoa, 84, and in Journ. Bot., xxxv. 212. 



PI. 94. — c. sporangia (Tennessee) ; d. capillitium and spores with fragment of 

 sporangium-wall. 



Allied to D. radiatum, from which it is distinguished by the 



discoid shape of the sporangia and the black stalks. Intermediate 



forms apparently connecting the two species have been gathered by 



Dr. Sturgis and Mr. Bethel in Colorado. 



Hab. On dead wood. — Tennessee (B.M. slide) ; Orono, Maine, 

 U.S.A. (B.M. 1596) ; New Hampshire (B.M. 2435). 



15. D. asteroides Lister. Plasmodium ? Sporangia scat- 

 tered, hemispherical or somewhat conical, 0-6 to - 8 mm. 



