lamproderma] stemonitaceae 163 



globose, stalked, erect, 0*5 mm. cliam., steel-grey, blue or bronze, 

 shining iridescent ; sporangium-wall membranous, pale purple, 

 falling away in large fragments, persistent as a collar round the 

 base of the sporangium. Stalk subulate-setaceous, about 

 1 mm. high, black, shining. Columella slender, smooth, 

 cylindrical, reaching to one-third or one-half the height of 

 the sporangium, suddenly dividing at the apex into the few 

 primary branches of the capillitium. Capillitium of purple- 

 brown or black threads arising from the apex of the columella, 

 branching repeatedly and anastomosing to form a close 

 crisped network, with very short free ends. Spores pale 

 lilac-grey, very faintly warted, 6 to 7 yu. diam. — Mass. Mon., 

 96 ; Macbr. N. Am. Slime-Moulds, 143. Stemonitis physaroides 

 var. subaeneus Berk, in Herb. Lamproderma subaeneum Mass. 

 I.e., 95. Comatricha Shimekiana Macbride in Bull. Nat. Hist. 

 Iowa, ii. 380, t. x, fig. 3 (1893). 



PI. 129. — a. sporangia (Philadelphia) ; b. capillitium ; c. sporangia (England) ; 

 d. columella and capillitium of same ; e. spore. 



This widely distributed species appears to be especially abundant in 

 the United States, where it is described by Dr. Rex as sometimer, 

 occurring in vast profusion, " covering one entire side of a fallen 

 log about 3 feet in diameter for a length of about 10 feet with the steel- 

 coloured sporangia." The specimens marked Stemonitis physaroides 

 var. subaeneus, from Ohio in Berkeley's collection (K. 1560, 1562) 

 correspond in every respect, in size, capillitium, and in the spores 

 which measure 6 to 7 /x, with Rostafinski's type of Lamproderma 

 arcyrionema in Strassb. Herb. Comatricha Shimekiana Macbr. 

 from Nicaragua (B.M. 1008), is a typical form of the present species. 

 The sporangia of L. arcyrionema are on the whole remarkably constant 

 in character. A variety has been found near Kamawata, Japan, by 

 Mr. K. Minakata (B.M. 2659), with unusually lax and slender capil- 

 litium, and with spores rather darker than in the typical form measuring 

 8 to 9 [t- diam. 



Hob. On dead wood. — Epping Forest, Essex (B.M. slide) ; Luton, 

 Beds (B.M. 2655); Scarborough (B.M. 2656); France (Paris Herb.); 

 Poland (B.M. slide) ; Portugal (B.M. 2658) ; Ceylon (B.M. 2657) ; 

 Japan (B.M. 2006) ; Borneo (B.M. slide) ; Philadelphia (B.M. 1814) ; 

 Ohio (B.M. 1406) ; Antigua (B.M. 1676) ; Nicaragua (B.M. 1008) ; 

 Brazil (B.M. 2660). 



3. L. scintillans Morgan Myx. Miami Valley, 47 (1894). 

 Plasmodium watery-white. Total height 1 to 1-5 mm. Spor- 

 angia scattered or gregarious, globose, stalked, erect, 0*3 to 

 0-5 mm. diam. 5 steel-blue, red or bronze, brilliantly iridescent ; 

 sporangium-wall delicately membranous, colourless, falling 

 away in large fragments. Stalk setaceous, black, shining, 

 rising from a purple-brown circular hypothallus. Columella 

 cylindrical, truncate, scarcely reaching to half the height of 

 the sporangium. Capillitium of rigid threads, radiating from 

 the apex of the columella, dichotomously branching and 

 anastomosing, black or purple-brown, pale at the base, rigid 



