188 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



A. Spores grey, violet-grey, or rufous violet : — 



a. Spores reticulated, surface net of capillitium with angular 



meshes S. fusca Roth. 



b. Spores minutely warted, almost smooth 



Meshes of surface net rounded, 20-100 fx or more wide 

 (imperfect in var. flaccida) . . . S. splendens Host. 



Meshes of surface net angular, less than 20 fi wide ; spores 

 7-8 ft diam., sometimes ferruginous ; plasmodium white 



B. Spores pale ferruginous : 



Spores 7-9 /* diam,; plasmodium yellow 



S. herbatica Peck 



S. flavogenita Jahn. (6, p. 165). 



Spores 4-6 /x diam. ; plasmodium white 



S. ferruginea Ehrenb. 



17. Comatricha Preuss. Sporangia subglobose or cylindrical, 



stalked, gregarious ; capillitium spreading from the columella ; 

 superficial net wanting or imperfect. 



A. Spores rather dark brownish violet or grey : 

 a. Spores nearly smooth — 



Capillitium dense, crisped or flexuose throughout; on 

 wood C. obtusata Preuss. 



Capillitium with primary branches stout and nearly 

 straight ; on wood C. laxa Eost. 



b. Spores spinulose or reticulated 



(closely allied to C. obtusata). 



o. Sporangia globose ; columella ending in strong branches 



continued into the flexuose network of the capillitium ; 



p 



spores warted ; on leaves ... C. lurida List. 



Spores reticulated C. longa Peck 



Spores spinulose C. irregularis Kex 



B. Spores pale ; lilac or reddish lilac : 



a. Spores marked with a few widely scattered warts, otherwise 



smooth or (in var. heterospora) delicately reticulated, 4-6 /x 

 diam. ; on wood (var. microspora on leaves) 



C. typhoides Eost. 

 fe. Spores minutely spinulose or nearly smooth, 6-10 p diam. 



Sporangium-wall completely evanescent ; on leaves (on wood 

 in var. gracilis) C. Persoonii Kost. 



Sporangium-wall persistent at the base as a membranous 

 cup, to which the capillitium is attached ; on leaves 



C. rubens List. 



18. Enerthexiema Bowman. Sporangia stipitate ; columella 



reaching to the summit of the sporangium ; capillitium 

 springing from the superficially extended apex of the colu- 

 mella E. elegans Bowm. 



