126 A Monograph of the Myxogastres. 



of red; mass of spores bright reddish-cinnamon; threads of 

 capillitium colourless, much branched, walls smooth, not collapsing 

 when dry, 4 5 p. thick ; spores globose, 10 \t. diameter, rather 

 coarsely warted. 



On fragments of rotten wood lying on the ground. 



South Africa. 



(Type in Herb. Berk., n. 10706.) 



Gregarious. Distinguished by the dense capillitium, the 

 tubes of which have thick, smooth walls, and the large spores. 



PROTOTRICHIA, Host, (emended). 



Sporangia simple or fasciculate, stipitate or sessile, thin, 

 reflecting metallic tints, dehiscing irregularly ; capillitium well- 

 developed, elaters attached by one end to the basal portion 

 of the sporangium, becoming attenuated upwards and dividing 

 into a variable number of slender, tapering, free tips, the slender 

 branchlets are sometimes more or less connected laterally, elaters 

 furnished with spirals, irregular rings, or entirely smooth. 



Prototrichia, Host., Mon. App., p. 38; Cooke, Myx. Brit., 

 p. 65; Sacc., Syll., vii., pt. I., p. 437; Mass., Revis. Trich., 

 p. 349. 



Trichia, B. and Br., Ann. Nat. Hist., Ser. III., vol. xviii., 

 p. 56, pi. 2., f. 4. 



Comuvia, Host., Mon., p. 289 (in part) ; Cooke, Myx. Brit, 

 p. 76 (in part) ; Sacc., Syll., vii., pt. 1, p. 289 (in part). 



Alwisia, B. and Br., Joum. Linn. Soc., xiv., p. 87, t. 2, f. 6, 

 and xv., t. 2, f. 1 ; Mass., Mon. Trich., p. 348. 



Trichia, Host., Mon., p. 246 (in part) ; Sacc., Syll., vii., pt. I., 

 n. 1494 (in part). 



As above denned the main features of the genus are the thin 

 iridescent sporangial wall and the elaters attached at one end 

 to the base of the sporangium, and becoming divided above into 

 a variable number of tapering, free tips, the branchlets are 

 rarely connected transversely, but never to such an extent as 

 to suggest a network. 



Distrib. Europe ; Tasmania ; Ceylon : 5 species. 



