192 ENDOSPOREAE [TUBIFERA 



nitidissima Berk, in Joura. Linn. Soc, xviii. 387 (1881). 

 T. speciosa Speg. in Atti Soc. Critt. Ital., ser. 2., iii. 62 (1881). 

 Licea fragiformis Nees Syst., 107 (1816). L. cylindrica 

 Fr. Syst. Myc, iii. 195 (1829). L. iricolor Zoll. in Flora, 

 xxx. 300 (1847). L. rubiformis Berk. & Curt, in Proc. Am. 

 Acad. Arts. & Sci., iv. 125 (1860). L. microsperma Berk. & 

 Curt, in Grev., ii. 68 (1873). 



PL 150. — a. tubular sporangia clustered on a spongy barren base ; 6. spores : 

 in two the side is shown on which the reticulation is imperfect (England) ; c. part of 

 a cluster of sporangia with conical summits (United States). 



The sporangium-wall when highly magnified is seen to be more or 

 less beset with minute colourless granules ; small pouches may also be 

 occasionally observed extending inwards to a greater or less degree, 

 which in some forms are produced into tubes passing across the sporan- 

 gium or taking an oblique course ; this appearance indicates a tendency 

 in the direction of the marked development of tubular processes in T. 

 Casparyi. The substance of the sporangium-wall varies in different 

 gatherings ; it may be iridescent and delicately membranous, or 

 firm and of considerable thickness. As the young thin-walled 

 sporangia mature their colour changes from rose-red to chestnut- 

 brown ; in stouter forms the young sporangia change from dark 

 mulberry-red to dark brown (see Rex I.e., 318). There is also some 

 variation in the shape of the upper portion of the sporangium ; in 

 some specimens of the more fragile type the apex is produced into a 

 sharp cone ; in others the sporangia are cylindrical, obtuse, and but 

 slightly connected with each other, those on the outside of the cluster 

 being often entirely free ; in the stouter type the walls are closely 

 compacted, and their apices form a level tesselated surface. 



Hab. On dead wood. Common.— Bowood, Wilts (B.M. 302) ; 

 Pulloxhill, Beds (B.M. 2797); Clifton, Nottinghamshire (B.M. 1103); 

 Penzance (B.M. 303) ; Wales (B.M. 9) ; Aberdeen (B.M. 2798) ; 

 France (Paris Herb.) ; Germany (B.M. 656) ; Norway (B.M. 1443) ; 

 Finland (B.M. 655) ; Poland (Strassb. Herb.) ; Switzerland (B.M. 

 2799) ; Austria (B.M. 1886) ; India (K. 1650) ; Ceylon (Peradeniya 

 Herb.); Java (B.M. 1104); Australia (K. 1653); New Zealand 

 (B.M. 2800); Japan (B.M. 2015); Muskoka, Canada (B.M. 2801); 

 Philadelphia (B.M. 1443a) ; Iowa (B.M. 823) ; South Carolina (K. 806). 



2. T. stipitata Macbr. N. Am. Slime-Moulds, 157 (1899). 

 Plasmodium white or colourless (teste Rex). Sporangia in 

 shape, size, and colour as in T. ferruginosa, usually clustered 

 on a dark brown spongy hypothallus, which has the form of 

 a stout stalk 2 to 3 mm. high. Spores pale rufous-brown, 

 minutely reticulated over the greater part of the surface, 

 the remaining part smooth or marked with ridges, 3 to 5 fx 

 diam. — Licea stipitata Berk. & Rav. ex Berk. & Curt, in Proc. 

 Amer. Acad. Arts. & Sci., iv. 125 (1860). Tubulina stipitata 

 Rost. Mon., p. 223 (1875) ; Rex in Bot. Gaz., xv. 318 ; Mass. 

 Mon., 38 : Lister Mycetozoa, 154. 



PI. 150. — d. cluster of sporangia on a stalk-like base ; e. spores, one shows the side 

 on which the reticulation is imperfect ; (United States). 



Dr. Rex considers this a distinct species from T. ferruginosa, specially 

 marked by the smaller spores. The stalk is a less important character, 



