164 ENEOSPOREAE [LAMPRO DERMA 



and coloured to the free extremities ; the threads connecting 

 the apex of the columella with the somewhat persistent base 

 of the sporangium- wall usually slender and colourless. Spores 

 violet-grey, minutely warted, 6*5 to 8 /x diam. — Macbr. N. 

 Am. Slime-Moulds, 142. Stemonitis scintillans Berk. & Br. 

 in Journ. Linn. Soc, xv. 84 (1876). Lamproderma arcyrioides 

 var. iridea Cooke Myx. Brit., 50 (1877). L. irideum Mass. 

 Mon., 95 (1892) ; Lister Mycetozoa, 128. Enerthenema 

 muscorum Lev. in Ann. Sci. Nat., ser. 4, xx. 289 (1863). 



PI. 130. — a, b. sporangia (England) ; c. capillitium and columella ; d. branching 

 thread of capillitium showing the colourless base ; e. f. spores. 



This species resembles some forms of L. violaceum, but is distin- 

 guished by the bases of the capillitium threads being pale where they 

 spring from the truncate apex of the columella ; apart from the character 

 of the capillitium, which is liable to some variation, it can always be dis 

 tinguished by the spores, which, instead of being minutely and closely 

 spinulose as in the pale-spored form of L. violaceum, are marked with 

 scattered warts that can easily be counted when magnified 1,000 

 diam., and number about thirty on the hemisphere. It is a most 

 abundant species in England ; in heaps of dead leaves it appears in 

 countless numbers, and in a dark fir plantation near Lyme Regis the 

 stones and herbage by the side of a rivulet appeared hoary over an 

 area of many square yards with the young rising sporangia, and a little 

 search showed the mature forms in equal abundance. The type 

 from Ceylon (K. 1634) agrees in all characters with the English gather- 

 ings, and is well described by Berkeley. There are several specimens 

 of this species in the Kew Collection, named L. arcyrioides var. iridea 

 Cke. (K. 615 — 619) ; these are referred to in Mr. Massee's Monograph 

 as having smooth spores measuring 11 to 16 p., which is misleading. 

 Specimens received from the United States, representing several 

 gatherings, agree in all respects with the type. The type of 

 Enerthenema muscorum Lev. from New Granada (B.M. 1032), 

 appears to be a form of the present species ; it is on moss, and 

 consists of scattered sporangia on setaceous stalks, with rigid capillitium 

 threads dark to the base ; the spores measure 7'5 to 9 fx, and are marked 

 with fewer and larger warts than in the type. Considering the unusual 

 character of the gathering it seems better to retain Berkeley's specific 

 name for the present species, which is associated with the typical 

 form, rather than revive that given by Leveille, although the latter is 

 of earlier date. 



Hab. On dead leaves, straw, etc. Common in the British Isles. — 

 Lyme Regis, Dorset (B.M. 1407) ; Batheaston, Somerset (B.M. 19-4) ; 

 Highgate, London (B.M. 1111); Epping Forest, Essex (B.M. 2661); 

 Hitchin, Herts (B.M. 2662) ; France (B.M. 617) ; Sweden (Herb. 

 Dr. R. E. Fries); Poland (Strassb. Herb.); Portugal (B.M. 2663); 

 Ceylon (K. 1634) ; Java (B.M. 2665) ; Japan (B.M. 2664) ; New 

 Jersey (B.M. 1911); Philadelphia (B.M. 1410); Ohio (B.M. 1409); 

 Iowa (B.M. 1009) ; South Carolina (B.M. 846) ; Antigua (B.M. 1677). 



4. L. columbinum Rost. Versuch, 7 (1873). Plasmodium 

 colourless. Total height 2 to 3 mm. Sporangia gregarious, 

 globose or ellipsoid, stalked, erect, 0*5 to 0-8 mm. diam., 

 purplish-black with iridescent violet or green reflections, or 



