114 
ENDOSPOREyR. 
[STEMONITIS. 
a large series of specimens of this group there is a general character 
whicli runs through them all in the constant type of the spores and 
in the smooth purple-brown capillitium, which points to the conclusion 
that however widely the size of the mesh of the surface-net may vary, 
they are all forms of one species. 
Hob. On dead wood. — y. Lyme Regis, Dorset (L:B.M.83) ; S. Meu- 
don, France (Paris Herb.) ; a. Germany (B. M. 619) ; y. Black Forest 
(L:B.M.83) ; a. Italy (B. M. 999) ; a. Natal (K. 694) ; a. Australia 
(K. 716) ; a. New Zealand (K. 688) ; a. Isle of Pines, New Caledonia 
(B. M. 1093); a. Samoa (L:B.M.83) ; a. Iowa (B. M. 820) ; S. New 
Jersey (L:B.M.83) ; /3. and y. Ohio (L:B.M.83) ; a. S. Carolina 
(B. M. 918) ; a. Darien (B. M. 916) ; a. Cuba (B. M. 630) ; a French 
Guiana (Paris Herb.) ; a. BrazU (B. M. 1089). 
3. S. herbatica Peck, in Rep. N. York Mus., xxvi., p. 75 (1874). 
Plasmodium? Sporangia cylindrical, in densely fasciculated 
clusters, 5 to 7 mm. high, red-brown. Stalk O'S mm. high, 
arising from a membranous hypothallus. Capillitium of dark 
brown threads, springing from the columella and forming a very 
loose network, uniting at the surface into a net with rounded 
meshes, 7 to 17 /a diam. Spores pale reddish-purple, minutely 
spinulose, 6 to 9 /a diam. — Mass., Mon., p, 87. 
Plate XLIII., B. — a. sporangia on leaf, x 2 (Java, leg. Zollinwer) ; 
i. capillitium of same, x 170 ; c. sporangia, Peck's type, x 2 (U.S.A.) ; 
d. capillitium of same, x 170 ; e. sporangia on leaf, natural size (Ran- 
goon) ; /. sporangia, x 2 ; ^. capillitium of same, x 170 ; h. spore, x 600. 
The above description is made from Peck's type, kindly furnished 
by Dr. Rex. The species is allied to S. ferruginea and to S. sjplendens, 
having the capillitium, and the habit of fruiting on herbaceous stems, 
of the formei-, and the purplish spores of the latter. It holds an 
intermediate position, different gatherings showing a tendency towards 
one or the other of its allies ; but it is a useful centre under which to 
place forms possessing a distinct general character which were difficult 
to locate before Peck gave-them a specific rank. It does not appear 
in the collections as a British species, and European gatherings are not 
frequent. The specimen figured from Java was given by Rostafinski 
as a type of S. fusca, from which it is distinguished by the nearly 
smooth spores and wandering habit of the plasmodium. Peck's type is 
nearly identical with the Java specimen (see PI. XLIII., B., c and <■/.). 
Hah. On leaves, etc. — France (K. 706) ; Germany (Strassb. Herb, as 
Stemonitis fusca Yar. minor leiosjjerma de Bary); Switzerland (K. 1606) ; 
Pondicherry, India (B. M. 84) ; Ceylon (K. 1624) ; Rangoon (K. 1612) ; 
Java (B. M. 1091) ; Borneo (L:B.M.84) ; Australia (K. 711); l^jTew 
York (L:B.M.84) ; Carolina (K. 1581) ; S. Domingo (B. M. 640). 
4. S. ferruginea Ehrenb., Sylv. Myc. Berol., p. 25 (1818). 
Plasmodium citron-yeUow, in rotten wood, usually creeping from 
the place of emergence, and maturing on surrounding herbage. 
Total height 5 to 7 mm. Sporangia cylindrical, obtuse, in 
closely fasciculate clusters, stipitate or nearly sessile, cinnamon- 
brown. Stalk black, 0-5 to 1-5 mm. high. Columella often 
reaching the apex of the sporangium and expanding as a funnel- 
shaped membranous cap, or ceasing far below the summit. 
