CRYPTOGAMIA. FUNGI. Reticularia. 
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(Ret. horten'sis. Whitish froth at first, then yellowish and confluent, 
at length it grows fragile, flattening in broad and thick masses, 
assuming lightish brown; being replete with dark powder or 
seeds in irregular divisions within. 
Bull. 424.2 —Soiverby 399. 1. 
Garden Reticularia. Mucor septicus. Linn. Retie, hortensis. Bull. 
Sowerby. Purt. Grev. Fuligo vaporaria. Pers. Hook. On the tan in 
hot houses, prevailing especially in spring and autumn, often far too 
abundantly, extending in large patches, and frequently ascending the 
plants. E.) 
(Ret. ova'ta. Egg-shaped, mucilaginous, bright yellow, cellular, turn¬ 
ing to a blackish dust; seeds black, adhering to threads. Purt. 
Soiverby 399. 2— Bull. 380. 1— Bolt. 134— Schceff. 192. 
A soft, frothy substance, hanging, or seemingly dropped on healthy grasses, 
and not oozing out, or in the least degree appearing to grow from them. 
Sowerby. Reducing itself to powder on the slightest touch when ma¬ 
ture. Grev. 
Yolk of Egg Reticularia. Retie, lutea. Sowerby. Bull. Grev. Purt. 
Retie, ovata. With. Sibth. Relh. Abbot. Fuligo Jlava. Pers. Hook. 
Mucor septicus. Lightf. Bolt. M. ovatus. SchsefF. Of these names we 
prefer the one descriptive of the form of the plant rather than the colour ; 
which latter indeed is by no means peculiar to this species. 
On grass, moss, hollow trees, &c. especially in woods after summer or 
autumnal showers. E.) 
(Ret. al'ba. White, frothy, of various-sized masses, somewhat egg- 
shaped ; seeds black, adhering to threads. 
Bull. 326 —Purt 21 —Sowerby 280. 
(White Reticularia. Ret. alba. Bull. Sowerby. Relh. Purt. Spumaria, 
mucilago. Pers. Growing on trees and other plants, either fresh or 
decaying. E.) 
I once found this on the stump of an elm which had been sawn off close to 
the ground, not less than half an inch thick in the mass, and from twelve 
to fifteen inches diameter. It continued white about five days. 
The reader is indebted to Mr. Stackhouse for the following history of this 
remarkable plant, the circumstances of which there is reason to believe 
also apply to some of its congeners. 
Its first appearance is like custard spilt upon the grass or leaves. This soon 
becomes frothy, and contracts round the blades of grass or leaves in the 
form of little tubercles united together. On examining it in its different 
stages under the microscope, we discover like a cluster of bubbles irre¬ 
gularly shaped, and melting into one another. In the second stage it was 
imbricated or tiled with open cells, the edges of the cells beautifully 
waved. A blackish powdery matter on the surface of the cells then gives 
the plant a greyish cast. In the third stage the wavy imbrication disap¬ 
pears, and the plant settles into minute tubercles. Some of these are 
closed, but many appear as if torn open, and out of the cavity emerge 
little downy strings with irregular-shaped terminations, and other irregu¬ 
lar bodies on the same strings, like the heads of some of the genus Mucor, 
but nothing of a network, from whence Bulliard has denominated the 
genus. It seems nearly allied, in its last stage, to the Lycoperdons, and 
is not very unlike the Retie. Lycoperdon, as figured by Bulliard* 
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