180 ENDOSPOREAE [CRIBRARIA 



approaches C. macrocarpa ; when the nodes and cup have dense deposits 

 of dark plasmodic granules, the form approaches C. pyriformis ; 

 when the cup is shallow and is connected with the net by ribs, it may- 

 resemble G. splendens, while the forms with a close and regular net 

 approach C. tenella or C. intricata. 



Hah. On dead wood. Common in Europe. — Lyme Regis, Dorset 

 (B.M. 1430); Luton, Beds (B.M. 1431); Witley, Surrey (B.M. 2730): 

 Norfolk (B.M. 2731); Glamis, Scotland (B.M. 246); France (B.M. 

 2732) ; Germany (B.M. 673) ; Sweden (B.M. 2734) ; Poland (Strassb. 

 Herb.); Switzerland (B.M. 2733); Austria (B.M. 1832); Portugal 

 (B.M. 2735) ; Japan (B.M. 2736) ; Philadelphia (B.M. slide) ; Colorado 

 (B.M. 2737). 



7. C. splendens Pers. Syn. Fung., 191 (1801). Plas- 

 modium ? Total height T5 mm. Sporangia globose, stalked, 

 erect or inclined, scattered, 0*3 mm. diam., nut-brown ; spor- 

 angium-wall consisting in the lower half of about nine free 

 ribs with little trace of a persistent cup, continued into a loose 

 net with small often triangular nodes. Stalk slender, 

 brown, four or five times the length of the sporangium. Spores 

 pale ochre, almost smooth, 5 /x diam. — Rost. Mon., p. 236 ; 

 Mass. Mon., 64 ; Macbr. N. Am. Slime-Moulds, 164. Dicty- 

 dium splendens Schrad. Nov. Gen. PL, p. 14 (1797). 



PI. 141. — e. sporangium after dispersion of spores (Germany ; specimen named by 

 Rostaflnski) ; /. part of net of sporangium ; g. sporangium (Switzerland) ; h. spores 

 and plasmodic granules. 



The description given above is taken from a specimen named by 

 Rostaflnski in the Strassb. Herb., from the Feldberg near Freiburg. 

 C. splendens differs from C. aurantiaca in having s r ong ribs taking the 

 place of a hemispherical cup. The persistent shining wall between the 

 net mentioned by Rostafinski has almost disappeared in this somewhat 

 injured specimen, but as the permanence of the membrane is met with 

 occasionally in nearly every species of Cribraria, the character is not 

 of great value. C. splendens appears to be connected by intermediate 

 forms with C. aurantiaca, C. intricata and C. tenella. M. Meylan finds 

 a beautiful form in the Jura Mountains with the nodes little or not at all 

 expanded ; it somewhat resembles C. minutissima, from which it 

 differs in the larger size and in the strong ribs at the base of the 

 sporangium. 



Hab. On dead wood. — Feldberg, Germany (B.M. slide) ; Switzer- 

 land (B.M. 2738) ; Japan (B.M. 2739) ; Toronto, Canada (B.M. 2740) ; 

 Washington State (B.M. slide) ; Philadelphia (B.M. slide). 



8. C. intricata Schrad. Nov. Gen. PL, 7 (1797). Plas- 

 modium ? Total height 1-5 to 3 mm. Sporangia gregarious, 

 stalked, globose, nodding or erect, 0-5 to 0*7 mm. diam., 

 ochraceous-brown ; cup one-third the height of the sporangium, 

 yellow-brown, studded with brown plasmodic granules 0-5 to 2 /a 

 diam. arranged in close lines radiating from the base of the 

 sporangium ; margin more or less irregularly toothed ; net 

 close, regular ; nodes numerous, dark brown, thickened, 

 prominent, polygonal, often branching, with many free rays, 



