104 THE NORTH AMERICAN SLIME-MOULDS 



Sporangia gregarious, cylindrical or elongate cyathiform, stipitate, 

 dark violet-red, the apex slightly rougl^ened by pale calcareous gran- 

 ules, the peridium longitudinally wrinkled below; dehiscence, irregu- 

 larly circumscissile ; stipe darker, one-half the height of the sporan- 

 gium, longitudinally wrinkled ; capillitium dense, abundantly calca- 

 reous; spores violet-brown, minutely roughened, 7-8 /x. 



In form resembling the following species, but instantly distin- 

 guished by the color, which is red throughout, tinged with purple or 

 violet. The capillitium is badhamioid, as noted by Dr. Rex. Very 

 distinct from P. newtoni in color, form, habit, epispore, etc. 



2. Craterium aureum (Schum.) Rost. 



1803. Trichia aurea Schum., Enum. PL SaelL, II., p. 207. 

 1829. Craterium mutabile Fries, Syst. Myc, III., p. 154. 

 1875. Craterium aureum (Schum.) Rost., Mon., p. 125. 



Sporangia gregarious, globose or obovoid, stipitate, yellow, erect, 

 the peridial wall thin, especially at the summit, where at maturity it 

 breaks up somewhat reticulately, leaving the persistent lower portion 

 with an uneven margin above which projects the pale yellow capil- 

 litium ; stipe short, orange, or brownish-red, arising from a small 

 hypothallus; capillitium dense, yellow, the nodules not large, irreg- 

 ular, tending to form a pseudo-columella in the centre of the cup; 

 spores minutely warted, violaceous-brown, 8-10 /t. 



Fries regards this, which he names C. mutabile, the most dis- 

 tinctly marked species of the genus; chiefly, as it appears, on account 

 of the bright yellow color. This, however, varies. Some specimens 

 before us are gray, showing only a trace of yellow below. In some 

 European specimens a reddish tinge prevails. The form of the 

 sporangium also varies. In typical specimens, unopened, the shape is 

 almost pyriform ; opened, we have a cylindric, oftenest lemon-yellow 

 vase, mounted on a short striate stalk. But again, from the same 

 Plasmodium, we may have globose sporangia, opening so as to leave 

 only a shallow, salver-shaped base. In this case the stipe is also 

 longer. The Plasmodium is said to be "clear lemon yellow." — 

 Massee. 



There seems little doubt that Schumacher had in mind the present 



