Chondriodei •nui . 205 



discoid, tJiin, fiat or slighthj convex cd)Ovc, rather concave helo^v, 

 lohite or cream-coloured ; the wall breaking away in irregular 

 patches above ; stem equal, pale ochraceous or whitish, longi- 

 tudinally wi-inJdcd, the ridges continuing on the under side of the 

 sporangium; in some specimens the stem is obsolete, and a 

 broadly extending plasmodiocarp, forming continuous patches, 

 or an irregularly branched anastomosing structure is produced ; 

 columella flattened, dingy red ; mass of spores black with purple 

 tinge ; threads of capillitiura 1 — 2 /x thick, pale or colourless, 

 forked, combining laterally to form a loose net ; spores globose, 

 dingy lilac, smooth, 8 — 9 [x diameter. 



Chondriodcrma Michelii, Rost., Fckl., Symb. Myc, Nach, 2, 

 p. 74; Host., Mon., p. 172, figs. 131, 146, 149, 150; Cooke, 

 Brit. MyK., p. 37, figs. 131, 146, 149, 150; Sacc, SylL, n. 1268 ; 

 Schroeter, p. 123. 



Didymium Michelii, Lib., PI. Crypt. Ard., Fasc. II., no. 180 

 (1832). 



Uxsicc—Lih., PI. Crypt. Ard., Fasc. II., n. 180; Fuckel, 

 Fung. Rhen., 2691 ; Ellis, N. Amer. Fung., 615. 



On living or dead leaves, twigs, wood, &c. ; some of the 

 specimens were found on horse-dung. Britain (specimen from 

 Sowerby's Herbarium ; Appin, N. B.) ; Sweden ; Germany ; 

 France ; Belgium ; Italy ; United States ; India. 



Sporangia 1 — 1'5 mm. diameter. Resembling an Agaric 

 in miniature ; the stem is sometimes obsolete, and then the 

 sporangia frequently coalesce in series of three or four. In 

 the Indian form there is a very thin ochraceous inner pellicle 

 without lime ; in every other respect it agrees with the typical 

 state of the plant. 



(Rostafinski's Synonyms.) 



Diderma contortum, Huffm., t. 9, f. 2a (1795). 

 Reticularia contorta, Poir., Ency., vi., 182. 

 Rcticularia hemisjpherica. Sow., t. 12 (1797). 

 Physarum dcpressum, Schum. Saell., No. 1439 (1803); Fl. 

 Dan., t. 1972, I 2. 



