148 ENDOSPOREAE [STEMONITIS 



Closely allied to S. splendens, of which it may possibly be a confluent 

 form ; the spores, however, appear to be always larger and darker. 



Hob. On dead wood, leaves, etc. — New Forest, Hants (B.M. 2543) ; 

 Epping Forest, Essex (B.M. 2544) ; Beds (B.M. 2545) ; France (Paris 

 Herb.) ; New Jersey (B.M. slide) ; North Carolina (B.M. 935). 



4. S. herbatica Peck in Rep. N. York Mus., xxvi. 75 

 (1874). Plasmodium white, rarely pale yellow. Sporangia 

 cylindrical, in densely fasciculated clusters, 5 to 9 mm. high, 

 reddish-brown. Stalks 0-8 to 2 mm. high, arising from a 

 membranous hypothallus. Capillitium of dark brown threads, 

 springing from the columella and forming a very loose network, 

 uniting at the surface into a net with rounded meshes, 10 to 

 20 i* diam. Spores pale reddish-grey, minutely spinulose, 

 6 to 8 fx diam. — Mass. Mon., 87. S. axifera Macbr. 

 N. Am. Slime-Moulds, 120 (1899), in part. 



Var. confluens Lister : sporangia united to form a con- 

 volute aethalioid mass, with somewhat persistent sporangium- 

 walls, without distinct stalks or columellae ; capillitium an 

 irregular network. 



PL 120. — a. sporangia (Peck's type from New York) ; b. capillitium ; c. d. spores ; 

 «. capillitium of Java specimen ; /. sporangia (Rangoon) ; g. capillitium of same. 



The above description is made from Peck's type, kindly furnished 

 by Dr. Rex. S. herbatica holds an intermediate position between S. 

 flavogenita and S. splendens, having the denser capillitium and the 

 frequent habit of fruiting on herbaceous stems of the former species, 

 and the stouter surface-net and purplish spores of the latter. Different 

 gatherings show a tendency towards one or other of its allies ; 

 although not a sharply defined species it makes a useful centre under 

 which to place forms possessing a distinct general character which were 

 difficult to locate before Peck gave them, a specific rank. Rostafinski 

 united the present species with S. fusca, from which it is distinguished 

 by the nearly smooth spores and the wandering habit of the 

 Plasmodium. A gathering of S. herbatica from Freiburg is marked in 

 the Strassburg Herbarium by de Bary " S. fusca var. minor leiosperma,^ 

 while a small form of S. fusca from the same locality is named by 

 him S. fusca var. minor trachispora. The var. confluens is remarkable 

 in having persistent sporangium-walls ; it has now been obtained 

 from Epping Forest, Essex, from Ceylon, and from Connecticut, U.S.A. 

 It was figured in the first edition of the present work as an exceptional 

 form of S. fusca var. confluens (p. Ill, PI. lxxvii. a). 



Hab. On dead leaves and wood. — Epping Forest (B.M. 2546) ; 

 Witley, Surrey (B.M. 1713); Cambridge (B.M. 1714); Worcester 

 (B.M. 2548); Aberdeen (B.M. 2547); North Germany (B.M. 2549); 

 Switzerland (K. 1606) ; Italy (B.M. 1947) ; Portugal (B.M. 2550) ; 

 Angola (B.M. 1636); Ceylon (B.M. 2551); Pondicherry (B.M. 84a); 

 Rangoon (K. 1612) ; Java (B.M. 1091); Borneo (B.M. slide) ; Australia 

 (K. 711); New Zealand (B.M. 2552); Japan (B.M. 2554); Philippine 

 Islands (B.M. 2054); British Columbia (B.M. 2553); New York 

 (B.M. 1378) ; Carolina (K. 1581) : var. confluens — Epping Forest 

 (B.M. 2555) ; Ceylon (B.M. 2556) ; Connecticut (B.M. 2557). 



