A PRELIMINARY LIST OF THE MYXOMY- 

 CETES OF THE CAYUGA LAKE BASIN 



F. B. Wann and W. C. Muenscher 



During the last five years the writers have made numerous col- 

 lections of Myxomycetes in central New York, especially in the 

 vicinity of Cornell University and Ithaca. These collections and 

 many others which have been contributed by a number of collectors, 

 as well as those available in the local herbaria, have been critically 

 studied. In all, approximately 800 collections have been exam- 

 ined. The preliminary list given below is a record of all the spe- 

 cies of Myxomycetes which the writers have seen and which are 

 represented by material collected within the Cayuga Lake Basin. 



The region covered by this list includes the territory drained by 

 Cayuga Lake, the central lake of the Finger Lakes system of cen- 

 tral New York. Roughly, the area includes a narrow strip averag- 

 ing about eighteen miles in breadth, extending from Montezuma 

 on the Erie Canal southward about sixty-five miles to Summit 

 marsh in the northern part of Tioga County. The region includes 

 the environs of Cornell University and the McLean Wild Life 

 Preserve. 



The list includes 92 species, in 30 genera and 1 1 families. Va- 

 rieties are not recorded individually. Lister 1 gives 49 genera in 

 13 families for the world. The local representation of Myxomy- 

 cetes would at first sight seem to be unusually large, but a more 

 careful search will doubtless reveal many species in other localities 

 with similar climatic conditions. The nomenclature used and the 

 arrangement of species and genera under families adopted is essen- 

 tially that used by Lister. 1 



The writers wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to the many 

 persons who have contributed specimens to them from time to 

 time; to Prof. H. H. Whetzel, who first suggested the work, for 

 his constant interest and the many specimens contributed to us ; to 

 Prof. H. M. Fitzpatrick, for placing at our disposal for examina- 



1 Lister, A. A Monograph of the Mycetozoa. Ed. 2. 191 1. 



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