PHYSARUM.] PHYSAEACE/E. 47 



of lime. Columella none. Capillitium a loose irregular network 

 of delicate hyaline threads, not expanded at the axils, with fusi- 

 form or angled orange lime-knots. Spores violet-brown, almost 

 smooth, 7 to 10 ju, diam. — Slemonites viridis Gmelin, Syst. Nat., ii., 

 p. 1469 (1791). Physarum aurewm Pers., in Bomer, K. Mag. 

 Bot., p. 88. F. nutans, j3 viride, y aureum, 8 coccineum, Fr., 

 Syst. Myc, iii., p. 129. Tilmadoche mutdbilis Boat., Mon., p. 129, 

 figs. 123-27, 132; Cooke, Myx. Brit., p. 22; Mass., Mon., p. 329. 

 Tilmadoche viridis Saec, Syll., vii.. No. 1247 ; Maobride, in Bull. 

 Nat. Hist. Iowa, ii. (1892), p. 152. 



a. luteum : sporangia yellow. — Sphcerocarpus luteus Bull., 

 Champ., PI. ccccvii., fig. 2. 



/8. aurantium : sporangia orange. — Sphmrocarpus aurantius 

 Bull., Champ., PI. cccclxxxiv., fig. 2. 



y. incanum : sporangia grey. 



Plate XII., A. — a. sporangia, x 20 ; J. capillitium, with fragment oE 

 sporangium-wall and spores, x 280 ; c. spore, x 600 (England). 



In this variable species, as in P. nutans, the sporangium-wall is 

 somewhat persistent when the lime- is abundant ; when this is more 

 scanty the wall soon breaks up in small fragments, remaining attached 

 to the capillitium. The colour of the sporangia found on the same 

 stump may differ from one year to another. The lime-knots are very 

 variable both in size and colour ; pale yellow sporangia have often red- 

 brown knots, and dark sporangia have light orange knots ; occasionally 

 the sporangia are grey and the lime-knots pale yellow, approaching 

 P. nutans. The stalks vary in tint in all forms. The specimens from 

 Chili (Gay) in the Paris Museum, given by Eostafinski (Mon., App., 

 p. 7) as a type of Physarum Leveillei, is the orange form of P. viride ; 

 the stalks aie free from lime deposit, the capillitium consists of slender 

 threads and fusiform orange lime-knots. 



Ilab. On dead wood. — u. and /3. Leytonstone, Essex (L:B.M.23) 

 France (Paris Herb.) ; Germany (B .M. 506) ; Borneo (L:B.M.23) 

 New Jersey (L:B.M.23). ;8. Poland (Strassb. Herb.) ; Ceylon (K. 1420) 

 Bonin Islands (K. 335) ; Chili (Paris Herb.) . y. Bohemia (B. M. 503) 

 Iowa (B. M. 805). 



15. P. Berkeley: Eost., Mon., p. 105, fig. 88 (1875). Plas- 

 modivim yellowish-green (teste Eavenel). Total height 1'75 mm. 

 Sporangia subglobose, or flattened beneath, stipitate^ nodding, 

 0'4 to 0'5 mm. diam., grey and yellow at the base, yellow or 

 iridescent from the absence of lime ; sporangium-wall membranous, 

 colourless above, thicker and yellowish below. Stalk slender, 

 subulate, striate, without deposits of lime, red or copper coloured. 

 Columella none. Capillitium a close network of delicate hyaline 

 threads with numerous yellow flat expansions at the axils ; often 

 persistent and retaining the form of the sporangium after dis- 

 persion of the -spores ; lime-knots u.sually small, angular, yellow. 

 Spores pale violet-brown, almost smooth, 7 to 9 /i diam. — Physarum 

 flavicomum Berk., in Hook. Journ. Bot., iv., 1845, p. 66. 

 Physarum cupripes Berk. & Eav., in Grev., ii., p. 65, 1873 ; 

 Mass., Mon., p. 284. Didymium, flavicomum Mass., Mon., p. 242. 



