BADHAMIA.] 
PHYSARACE^. 
31 
riatc I., B.— <7. and h. var. gennina ; sporangia, x 20 (England) ; c. 
capillitium ; d. cluster of spores of the same, x 280. e. spore, warted on 
the outer side, x 600 ; /. spore almost uniformly spinulosc, x 600 ; 
g. var. papaveracea ; sporangium, x 20 (New Jersey), h. cluster of 
spores of the same, x 280. 
This species forms small plasmodia ; it is subject to much variation 
in the size of the sporangia and in the character of the stalk and 
spores. In some gatherings the spores are fuliginous and not so dark 
as the type, loosely adhering and scarcely rougher on one side, not 
exceeding 10 to 11 /x diam. ; all intermediate forms occur. B. papaveracea 
Berk. & Kav. is an American form differing from the European chiefly 
in the stalk being usually dark, rigid, even, and filled with refuse 
matter, and in the spores being in clusters of seldom more than 6 to 10 ; 
these characters are not constant, as is shown in specimens B. M. 996, 
and do not appear to constitute a specific distinction. B. capsullfera 
Berk, is described as having the sporangia somewhat obovate, and the 
type at Strassburg, referred to in Rostafinski's Monograph, has this 
form, but the spores are in large clusters, warted on the outer surface, 
like those of B. Tiyalina ; we not infrequently meet with both globose 
and pyriform sporangia intermixed ; the shape of the sporangium 
therefore cannot be accepted as distinctive, and B. capsulifera must be 
included under B. hyalina. 
Hah. On fir logs, etc., the Plasmodium growing in the substance of 
the logs and spreading between the bark and wood. — a. Batheaston, 
•Somerset (B. M. 36) ; Bristol (B. M. 79) ; Leighton, Beds. (L:B.M.2.); 
Luton, Beds. (L:B.M.2); Lyme Eegis, Dorset (L:B.M.2) ; France 
(Paris Herb.) ; Germany (Strassb. Herb.). Pennsylvania (B. M. 
996b); S. Carolina (B. M. 996a) ; Massachusetts (L:B.M.2). 
2. B. utricularis Berk., in Trans. Linn. Sec, xxi., p. 153 (1852). 
Plasmodium chrome-yellow, extensively creeping. Sporangia 
ovoid subglobose or confluent and lobed, 0-5 to 1 mm. diam., 
clustered ; cinereous, or iridescent violet, often marked with the 
white attachments of the capillitium, sessile or on membranous, 
straw-coloured branching stalks; sporangium-wall hyaline with 
sparsely distributed minute granules of lime. Capillitium as 
in B. hyalina. Spores bright brown or violet-brown, usually 
adhering in loose clusters of 7 to 10 ; spinulose 9 to 12 ^u, diam. — 
Rost., Mon., p. 142, figs. 110-112; Cooke, Myx. Brit., p. 26. 
Sjohcerocarpus utricularis Bull, Champ., Div. II., p. 128 (1791). 
Badhamia varia Mass., Mon., p. 319 (in part). 
Plate II., k.—a. cluster of sporangia, x 20 (England) ; b. capillitium, 
X 280 ; c. cluster of spores, x 280 ; d. spore, x 600. 
This species differs from B. hyalina in habitat, in having large 
Plasmodia commonly producing some thousands of sporangia, and in 
the spores being brighter in colour, with coarser and less crowded 
spines, without the cluster of warts on one side. In cultivations 
carried on continuously for more than six years, the four varieties 
described in Rostafinski's Monograph have presented themselves. The 
capillitium varied both in form and in the amount of lime it contained ; 
m some the threads were broad with wide expansions at the angles, iii 
others they were narrow and but little widened at the angles ; in some 
the hme was abundant, in others only a few scattered granules could 
be found. The agglutination of the spores was seen to vary in different 
