COMATRICHA.] 
STEMONITACE^. 
123 
a. genuina is the type most abundant in Europe. 
^. tenerrima is the type of Stemonitis tenerrlma Berk. & Curt., from 
S. Carolina ; it occurs in Uavenel's Coll. (B. M. 902) under the name 
of Comatricha pulchella : it has also been found at Lyme Eegis. 
Comatncha gracilis Wing. (No. 2094, Ellis & Everhart, 2nd Series, K. 
1589) is similar to specimens furnished by Dr. Eex as a small form of 
C. Persoonii (L:B.M.92) ; it differs from the usual type in the very 
faintly and closely warted spores. 
Hal. On dead leaves, etc. — a. and y. Lyme Kegis, Dorset (L:B.M.92); 
a. Leytonstone, Essex (L:B.M.92) ; a. Luton, Beds. (L:B.M.92) ; 
^. Philadelphia (L:B.M.92) ; a. S. Carolina (B. M. ^QAb) ; y. S. 
Carolina (B. M. 902). 
7. C. rubens Lister, sp. nov, Plasmodium watery- white. Total 
height 1 to 2 mm. Sporangia obovoid, ellipsoid, or subglobose, 
stipitate, erect or inclined, scattered, 0'5 to 0*8 mm. long, Q-S 
to 0'5 broad, pinkish-brown, shining below; sporangium-wall 
evanescent above, membranous and persistent in the lower 
quarter, pinkish-brown. Stalk setaceous, black, shining, 0"6 to 
1"3 mm. long, rising from a circular brown hypothallus. Colu- 
mella reaching to about two-thirds the height of the sporangium, 
branching at the apex. Capillitiiim of brownish -violet threads, 
springing from all parts of the columella, broad at the base, more 
or less flexuose, anastomosing and branching at wide angles, often 
with flat expansions, gradually narrowing to the delicate straight 
free ends ; the persistent base of the sporangium- wall is connected 
with the lower part of the columella by capillitium threads with 
broad attachments. Spores pale lilac-bi-own, minutely spinulose, 
7 to 8 /,(, diam. 
Plate XL v., B. — d. sporangia, x 3^ ; e. columella and capillitium, with the 
basal part of sporangium- wall persistent, x 180 ; /. spore, x 600 (England). 
This species has occurred at Lyme Regis two years in succession, 
and has also been obtained in Yorkshire and Bedfordshire. Specimens 
from America supplied by Dr. Rex are of precisely the same form as 
the English gatherings. The spores are similar to those of C. Persoonii, 
to which species it appears to be allied. The persistent wall at the 
base of the sporangium is a constant character, showing an approach 
to the genus Lamproderma. 
Hah. On dead leaves.— Lyme Regis, Dorset (L:B.M.93) ; Phila- 
delphia (L:B.M. 93). 
SPECIES NOT MET WITH IN THE QUOTED COLLECTIONS. 
8, C. macrosperma Racib., in Rozpr. Mat. Przyr. Akad. Krak.,. 
XH., p. 76 (1884). Sporangia obovate, or oblong, naked, stipitate ; 
columella tapering upwards, ceasing below the apex ; capillitium 
arising from the columella, its branches combined into a }iot dense 
net, becoming gradually more slender towards the circumference, 
where, especuilly in the lower part of the sporangium, their curved 
extremities unite to form a superficial net. Spoi-es pale violet 
verruculose, 9-9 to 12 diam. Var. ohovata, sporangia 0-5 to 
