Vol. 8. 



No. II. 



torrp:ya 



November, 1908 

 THREE RARE MYXOMYCETES 



By Henry C. Beardslee 



Three of our rarest and most interesting species of slime moulds 

 are doubtless Cribraria violacea Rex and C. minutissima Schw. 

 and Clastodernia DeBaryamun Blytt. It has been my good for- 

 tune to observe all three of these in some abundance and the 

 following notes are given in the hope that they may be of 

 interest. 



My first acquaintance with Cribraria violacea was made while 

 working at the Illinois Biological Station at Havana, Illinois. A 

 very few scattering plants were first found on some bits of wood 

 which had been brought into the laboratory on account of an 

 entirely different species which was growing upon them. The 

 specimens were unmistakable and proved the forerunners of more 

 abundant collections. Once it became apparent that this dainty 

 species was to be found, close examination revealed it, never in 

 large quantities, but so generally distributed in my collecting 

 grounds that it became apparent that its " rarity " there was due 

 merely to its minuteness ; for it can scarcely be detected, as it ordi- 

 narily occurs, without the use of a lens. A few weeks later it 

 was found under very different circumstances. My attention was 

 called to an old log which was declared to have a violet metallic 

 sheen. Upon examination the log proved to have a beautiful 

 iridescence, which was visible in a bright light at a distance of 

 several feet, due to the presence of an enormous colony of this 

 rare plant, which had completely covered the surface of the log 

 in such abundance as to impart its peculiar color to it. Doubt- 

 less this one log had upon its surface more of this species than 

 has been observed elsewhere in the world. It was certainly an 



[N ). 10, Vol. 8, of ToRREYA, comprising pages 233-252, was issued October 22, 

 1908.] 



253 



