crtbraria] heterodermaceae 179 



PL 141. — a. sporangia after dispersion of spores ; b. part of net and cup of sporan- 

 gium (Freiburg, Germany, specimen named by Rostafinski) ; c. net and cup of 

 sporangium (Black Forest, Germany) ; d. spore, and plasmodic granules. 



Specimens from America from low elevations have usually more 

 numerous and slender connecting threads and more prominent nodes 

 in the upper part of the net ; they approach forms of C. intricata, 

 while the European type is coarser and more nearly resembles bold 

 forms of G. aurantiaca. A gathering made by Dr. Rex at an elevation 

 of 6,200 feet on Roan Mount, North Carolina, exactly corresponds 

 with the specimen named by Rostafinski in the Strassburg collection. 



Hab. On dead coniferous wood. — Glamis, Scotland (K. 1677) ; 

 Germanv (B.M. slide) ; Norway (B.M. slide) ; Switzerland (B.M. 

 2729) ; New York (B.M. 1429) ; "New Hants (B.M. slide). 



6. C. aurantiaca Schrad. Nov. Gen. PI., 5 (1797). Plas- 

 modium sap-green or slate-grey. Total height 1 to 2 mm. 

 Sporangia gregarious, stalked, globose, erect or nodding, 

 0*4 to 0*7 mm. diam., nut-brown ; cup one-third the height 

 of the sporangium, irregularly and deeply toothed at the 

 margin, studded with round plasmodic granules 0-5 to 1 /x diam. 

 arranged in close lines radiating from the base of the sporan- 

 gium ; nodes of the net flattened, broad, branching and 

 angular, or narrow, the angles continued into the slender 

 connecting threads and often into a few free rays. Stalk 

 subulate, dark brown, two to four times the height of the 

 sporangium. Spores golden-yellow or ochraceous, smooth, 

 5 to 6 jx diam. — Rost. Mon., p. 233 ; Mass. Mon., 57 ; Macbr. 

 N. Am. Slime-Moulds, 164. C. vulgaris Schrad. I.e., 6; Rost. 

 Mon., p. 234 ; Mass. Mon., 61. C. vulgaris var. aurantiaca 

 Pers. Syn. Fung., 194 (1801). C. variabilis Ficin. & Schub. 

 Fl. Dresden, ii. 296 (1823) ? C. intermedia Berk, in Sm. 

 Engl. Fl., v., pt. 2, 318 (1836). 



Form a. Stalk one and a half times the height of the 

 sporangium ; nodes broad, polygonal. 



Form (3. Stalk two to four times the height of the 

 sporangium ; nodes triangular, narrow. 



PI. 142. — a. to c. sporangia of various forms, with spores dispersed ; d. part of 

 net and margin of cup of sporangium of form a. ; e. part of net and margin of cup 

 of form & ; /, 0. spores and plasmodic granules ; (England). 



Rostafinski's specimens of C. vulgaris in Strassb. Herb., differ in no 

 respect from those he has named C. aurantiaca. In describing three 

 forms of C. vulgaris, "a. genuina, (3 aurantioides, y delicatula," he 

 recognises the great variability to which the species is subject, and 

 points out how closely his form R approaches C. aurantiaca. Gatherings 

 of C. aurantiaca at Lyme Regis, from the same fir log in consecutive 

 years, show variations in the cup, net, and colour, which illustrate the 

 characters given in Rostafinski's description and figures of both C. 

 aurantiaca and G. vulgaris ; the latter name is therefore placed 

 here as a synonym for the comprehensive species G. aurantiaca. 

 As a rule the shorter stalked sporangia have more expanded nodes. 

 Intermediate forms occur connecting C. aurantiaca with a group 

 of allied species ; a large form having a strongly ribbed cup 



