ARCYRIA.] 
AUCYRIACEiE. 
187 
This species is very variable in the shape of the sporangia. An 
extensive growth of the common grey form, arising from one develop- 
ment of Plasmodium, will often exhibit much diversity ; subglobose 
sporangia with short stalks and subcyHndrical sporangia with long 
stalks are found in company with the more usual ovoid form, either 
single, or combined in clusters of two to five, and then correspond with 
A. digitata Rost. Groups are also met with on dead bramble stems in 
•which the nearly white sporangia are shortly stalked and perfectly 
globose, 0-5 to 0-7 mm. diam. ; but these are associated with other 
groups,' showing all degrees of difference from subglobose to ovoid. 
Specimens from North and South America and from the tropics are 
usually elongated or cylindrical. The marking on the capillitium is 
also a variable character. In some gatherings of the grey form the 
threads are nearly uniform throughout, and either almost smooth, or 
spinulose, with the spines minute and equally distributed, or 1 to 2 
long, either sharp-pointed or thickened at the apices ; in other gather- 
ings the threads are broad and papillose, as in Lachnoholus circinans. 
A. pomiformis Roth, has yellow globose sporangia and slender stalks, 
but the capillitium in the type specimens in Strassburg Herbarium 
does not differ, except in colour, from that frequently met with in the 
grey form. A. globosa Schwein. {Lachnoholus glohosus Rost.) appears 
to be a variety of A. alhida occurring on the burs and catkins of 
chestnut in the United States : the globose sporangia measure 0 3 to 
0"5 mm. diam., and are nearly white or pale ochraceous ; the stalks are 
slender, one to one and a half times the length of the sporangium ; the 
capillitium and spores resemble those of A. alhida in all respects. 
Specimens received from Dr. Rex represent two varieties : one is con- 
fined to the burs of chestnut ; the other, named var. minor by Ellis, is 
smaller, with longer stalks, and grows exclusively on the catkins. 
These forms on chestnut seem to be constant in shape ; in English 
gatherings, however, the form growing on bramble stems has usually a 
marked character, differing from those found on stumps in the more 
globose and smaller sporangia with short stalks, and though these 
characters are less constant than those of the American gatherings, it 
would appear that the latter may owe thei r shape to the special substances 
on which they grow, and are not specifically distinct from A. alhida. 
The type specimen of A. Friesii Berk. & Br. (K. 896) is the grey ovoid 
forni of A. alhida, with typical capillitium and spores. A. digitata 
Rost. is the cylindrical form of A. alhida, •with sporangia mostly in 
clusters of three' to seven together ; the stalks usually equal the 
sporangia in length, and, though adhering, are easily separable ; the 
" botrytis " arrangement cannot be viewed as having any specific value. 
The type of A. Cookei Mass., from Brazil (Trail— K. 865), is a tall grey 
form of A. alhida ; the sporangia measure 2 mm. in length, 0-5 mm. in 
breadth ; the stalks are 2 mm. long, Ol mm. thick ; the capillitium and 
spores are quite typical. 
Hah. On dead wood, etc.— a. Batheaston, Somerset (B. M. 276, 281) ; 
/3. Batheaston (B. M. 278) ; a. Lyme Regis, Dorset (L:B.M.155) ; a. Sib- 
bertoft, Norths. (K. 896) ; a. France (K. 859) ; a. Germany (B. M. 713) ; 
a. and/3. Poland (Strassb. Herb.) ; a. Cape (K. 858) ; a. Japan (K. 866) ; 
a. Borneo (L:B.M.155) ; a. Australia (B. M. 714) ; Tonga Tabu 
(L:B.M.155) ; /3. New Jersey (K. 877) ; a. Iowa (B. M. 828) ; y. Phila- 
delphia (L:B.M.155) ; y. Ohio (K. 882) ; a. S. Carolina (B. M. 072, 976) • 
a. Cuba (B. M. 716) ; a. Nicaragua (B. M. 1030) ; a. Venezuela 
(B. M. 715) ; a. French Guiana (Paris Herb.) ; a. Brazil (K. 865). 
