iii. Sporangia ovate or cylindric, minute,
to 3.5 mm.
O Cylindric, spore with few, scattered warts 10. _C. typhoides_
OO Smaller, capillitium irregular, loose 6. _C. laxa_
OOO Total height to 2 mm. or much less.
+ Columella digitately divided 11. _C. elegans_
++ Columella lamprodermoid, and on leaves 12. _C. rubens_
+++ Columella stemonitoid 13. _C. pulchella_
++++ Columella furcate at tip 14. _C. ellisii_
+++++ Columella almost percurrent. 15. _C. subcaespitosa_
1. COMATRICHA CAESPITOSA _Sturgis._
PLATE XI., Figs. 12, 13, 14.
1893. _Comatricha caespitosa_ Sturg., _Bot. Gaz._, XVIII., p. 186. 1894. _Diachaea thomasii_ Rex, var., List., _Mycetozoa_, p. 92. 1899. _Comatricha caespitosa_ Sturg., Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 124. 1911. _Diachaea caespitosa_ Lister, _Mycetozoa, 2nd ed._, p. 121.
Sporangia densely crowded or cespitose, sub-sessile or short stipitate, clavate, 1-1.5 mm. high, the peridium gray, iridescent with blue tints, comparatively permanent but finally disappearing; columella attaining two-thirds to three-fourths the height of the sporangium, giving rise throughout its length to the dense blackish capillitium; hypothallus delicate, inconspicuous; capillitium, the main branches thick at the point of origin, frequently anastomosing, and becoming gradually thinner toward the surface of the sporangium, the tips pointed, free, forming the network; spores blackish-violet in mass, by transmitted light pale brownish-violet, rough, 9.5-13 mu.
A very distinct and curious species. The sporangia are densely crowded, though by the nature of habitat somewhat tufted. The shape of the individual sporangium is quite uniformly clavate or obovate, decidedly truncate above. The spores are uniformly verruculose and plainly unequal.
This species, as indicated, was by its author described as a comatricha. To transfer it to another genus seems idle, especially when long established generic boundaries must be seriously disturbed expressly to admit the new arrival.
New England, North Carolina, on moss and lichens.--_Dr. Sturgis._
2. COMATRICHA CYLINDRICA (_Bilgram_) _Macbr._
1905. _Diachaea cylindrica_ Bilgram, _Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad._, 524. 1911. _Diachaea cylindrica_ Bilgram, List., _Mycetozoa, 2nd ed._, p. 121.
Sporangia cylindrical with obtuse apex, sessile, gregarious, iridescent, steel-gray or bronze, 1 to 1.7 mm. high, .5 to .65 mm. thick; hypothallus whitish, rugose; sporangium-wall membranous, hyaline, not adhering to the capillitium; columella arising from the hypothallus and extending nearly to the apex, brown, very light and semi-translucent near the base, irregular, flexuous, limeless throughout; capillitium brown, radiating from the columella to the periphery, repeatedly branching and anastomosing; spores warted, the warts connected by ridges forming a more or less perfect, coarse reticulation, violaceous, pale, 10-12 mu.
This is a very interesting species closely related to the preceding from which it differs chiefly in the reticulation and generally more uniform character of the spores. The author hesitated about the generic reference, finally referring it to _Diachaea_ despite the lack of calcium, because it was sessile and had a peridium rather more persistent than is usual in comatrichas. But the presence of lime in stipe and columella is an essential element in the diagnosis of _Diachaea_, while length of stem is everywhere variable in stipitate forms of every genus, and the persistence of the peridium is also an uncertain factor; hangs on long in _C. typhoides_, _e. g._
On dead twigs, etc.--Philadelphia,--_Mr. Bilgram_; New Hampshire.
3. COMATRICHA FLACCIDA _List._
1894. _Comatricha flaccida_ List., Morg., _Jour. Cin. Soc._, p. 51. 1894. _Stemonitis splendens_, var. _flaccida_ List., _Mycetozoa_, p. 112. 1894. _Comatricha flaccida_ (List.) Morg., Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 133. 1911. _Stemonitis splendens_, var. _flaccida_ List., _Mycetozoa, 2nd ed._, p. 146.
Sporangia semi-erect, close crowded in tufts two inches in diameter, ferruginous, from a dark brown hypothallus, sessile or short stipitate; columella weak, crooked, percurrent, generally enlarged irregularly at the apex; capillitium of few, slender, brown branches which anastomose sparsely and irregularly as in _C. irregularis_, and present when freed from spores the same chenille-like appearance; spore-mass ferruginous brown; spores by transmitted light bright reddish brown, minutely warted, 8-10 mu.
"Growing on old wood and bark of Oak, Willow, etc. The component sporangia 5-10 mm. in length. The early appearance is much like that of a species of _Stemonitis_, but the mature stage is a great mass of spores with scanty capillitium, as in _Reticularia_; the columellas, however, are genuine and not adjacent portions of wall grown together."--_Professor Morgan._
Professor Morgan's herbarium material is at hand for study. It meets his description, needless to say, very generally. In what remains of the type the membranous connections are obscure; in fact the relation of such peridial (?) fragments to the capillitium in any way, is no longer evident. But in any event the colony does not impress one as something prematurely or improperly developed, a stemonitis gone begging;--nothing of that kind; it is clearly a comatricha, easily identifiable with no trace of a surface net but, with long free tips in plenty.
Misled no doubt, by the peridial fragments referred to, Mr. Lister in _Mycetozoa, l. c._, associated this with _S. confluens_ Cke. & Ell., but entered it as a variety of _S. splendens_ Rost., just the same. In the second edition of the _Monograph_, Ellis' species is set out, but Morgan's retains the old position.
In light of present knowledge, the relationship suggested would be difficult of proof. If _C. flaccida_ Morgan be related to the _splendens_ group at all, it must be with the form known as _S. webberi_ Rex., but it differs from this in almost every particular. It has no net, with meshes uniform or diverse; it is clear brown in color, with a tinge of red, beneath the lens; the spores are smaller, distinctly warted and with the reddish tinge of the capillitium; and in short, it seems to be a comatricha and not a stemonitis.
Specimens from western Washington differ in some particulars but are apparently the same thing.
Ohio, Kentucky, Washington, California; not common.
4. COMATRICHA LONGA _Peck._
PLATE VI., Figs. 2, 2 _a_, 2 _b_.
1890. _Comatricha longa_ Peck, _Rep. N. Y. Mus._, XLIII., p. 24.
Sporangia crowded in depressed masses or tufts, black, long, cylindric, even, stipitate; stipe black, shining, generally very short; hypothallus well developed, black; columella black, slender, weak, generally dissipated some distance below the apex; capillitium of slender brown or dusky threads anastomosing to form an open network next the columella, but extended outwardly in form of long free slender branchlets, now and then dichotomously forked; spore-mass blue-black, spores by transmitted light dark brown, globose, spinulose, some of them faintly reticulate, about 9 mu.
A very remarkable species. Rare in the west, more common, as it appears, in the eastern states. The sporangia occur in tufts about 1 or 2 cm. wide, springing generally from crevices in the bark of decaying logs, especially willow and elm, in swampy places. The sporangia are remarkable for their great length. Generally about 20-25 mm., specimens occasionally reach 50 mm.! The capillitial branches are so remote that the spores are scarcely retained by the capillitium at all. Well described and figured by the author of the species, _Forty-third Rep. N. Y. State Museum_, p. 24, Pl. 3.
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa.
5. COMATRICHA IRREGULARIS _Rex._
1891. _Comatricha irregularis_ Rex, _Proc. Phil. Acad._, p. 393.
Sporangia crowded in flocculent tufts, very dark brown or black, semi-erect or drooping, 4-5 mm. in height, irregularly cylindric, variable, stipitate; stipe black, distinct, often one-half the total height; hypothallus well developed, brown, shining; columella central, slender, flexuous, reaching the apex, where it blends, by branching, with the capillitium; capillitium loose, open, composed of arcuate threads which radiate from the columella, and are joined together, forming a central, irregular reticulation of large meshes, brown, paler toward the surface, where the free ends are sometimes colorless; spore-mass black, spores by transmitted light brown, minutely warted, 7-8 mu.
Related, no doubt, to _C. longa_, but differing in habit, stature, as in texture and structure of the capillitium. In _C. longa_ the inner net is extremely simple,--a row or two of meshes at most, and the radiating branches are long and straight; in the species before us the inner network is well developed, and the radiating branches proportionately shorter and abundantly branching, with pale or white free tips.
Generally, though not always, found growing in the crevices of the bark on fallen logs of various deciduous trees. September. Not common.
This is thought to be _C. crypta_ Schw., _N. A. F._, 2351; but the description under that number does not make clear what form Schweinitz had before him, the present species or _C. longa_, and the herbarium specimen of Schweinitz is "utterly lost"; the later specific name is accordingly adopted.
New England west to the Cascade Mountains; south to Kansas and Texas.
6. COMATRICHA LAXA _Rostafinski._
PLATE V., Figs. 5, 5 _a_.
1875. _Comatricha laxa_ Rost., _Mon._, p. 201. 1877. _Lamproderma ellisiana_ Cooke, _Myx. U. S._, p. 397. 1891. _Comatricha ellisiana_ (Cooke) Ell. & Ev., _N. A. F._, 2696.
Sporangia scattered, gregarious, sub-globose or short cylindric, and obtuse, dusky stipitate; stipe short, black, tapering rapidly upward from an expanded base; hypothallus scant or none; columella erect, rigid, sometimes reaching nearly to the apex of the sporangium, sometimes dichotomously branched a little below the summit, before blending into the common capillitium; capillitium lax, of slender, horizontal branches, anastomosing at infrequent intervals and ending in short, free tips; spores pallid, nearly smooth, 7-9.5 mu.
A very minute, delicate little species, about 1-1/2 mm. high; the stipe half the total height. In general appearance the shorter forms of the species resemble slightly _C. nigra_, but are distinguished by a much shorter stipe and much more open capillitium. The sporangia of _C. nigra_ mounted on long capillary stipes always droops more or less; the sporangia of the present species stand rigidly erect. The sporangia vary in form and in the branching of the columella. In the more globose phases, the columella almost always shows a peculiar dichotomy near the apex; in the cylindric types, this peculiar division fails.[36] In fact, the shape is determined chiefly by the mode of branching as affects the columella. Rostafinski's figure, on Tab. XIII, does not present the type usually seen in this country, nor even in Europe if we may judge from later illustrations.
The species with us has received various names, but so far as can be determined, all apply to the same thing, and comparison of specimens from Mr. Ellis with those from Europe show the correctness of the nomenclature here adopted.
Rare, but widely distributed; across the continent.
7. STEMONITIS SUKSDORFII _Ell. & Everh._
PLATE XI., Figs. 9, 10, 11.
1882. _Stemonitis suksdorfii_ Ell. & Everh., _Bull. Washb. Coll._, Vol. I., p. 5. 1892. _Stemonitis suksdorfii_ Ell. & Everh., Mass., _Mon._, p. 76.
Sporangia scattered in small tufts or gregarious, cylindric, obtuse at both ends, sometimes widened above, black, 2-6 mm., stipitate; stipe jet-black, shining, even, about one-half the total height; hypothallus not continuous, dark brown; columella black, rather slender, terminating in two or more large branches just below the apex; capillitium exceedingly dense, dark fuscous or black, the flexuous threads anastomosing in a close network, with abundant free pallid extremities; spores in mass, blue-black, by transmitted light fuscous or dark violaceous-brown, minutely warted, 10-12 mu.
Easily recognizable at sight by its sooty color. Entirely unlike any of the preceding. The type of the capillitium is that of _C. pulchella_, but it is very much more dense and entirely different in color. The sporangia are often widened above, and fairly truncate; the total height about 6 mm. Found on the bark of fallen twigs of _Abies, Larix_, etc. Distributed by Ell. & Everh. under this name as an _exsiccata_. The evanescent peridium is colorless; when free, white or silvery.
8. COMATRICHA NIGRA (_Pers._) _Schroeter._
PLATE XI., Figs. 1, 2, 3.
1791. _Stemonitis nigra_ Pers., Gmel., _Syst. Nat._, p. 1467. 1801. _Stemonitis ovata_, var. _nigra_ Pers., _Syn._, p. 189. 1863. _Stemonitis friesiana_ DeBy., _Rab. Eur. Fung._, No. 568. 1875. _Comatricha friesiana_ (DeBy.) Rost., _Mon._, p. 200. 1889. _Comatricha nigra_ (Pers.) Schroeter, _Pilz. Krypt. Fl. v. Schles._, I., p. 118. 1894. _Comatricha obtusata_ Fr., Lister, _Mycetozoa_, p. 117. 1899. _Comatricha nigra_ (Pers.) Schroeter, Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 128.
Sporangia scattered, ferruginous or dark brown, globose or ovoid, stipitate; stipe long, hair-like, tapering upward, black; hypothallus none; columella rapidly diminished toward the top, at length dissipated; capillitium of slender flexuous threads, radiating horizontally, repeatedly branching and anastomosing to form an intricate dense network, from the surface of which project a few short hook-like peridial processes; spore-mass black, spores by transmitted light dark violaceous, smooth or nearly so, 7-10 mu.
This species, when typical, is easily recognized by its almost globose sporangia mounted on long slender stocks. These are 2 or 3 mm. high and generally persist, as Persoon noticed, a long time after the sporangium has fallen. The sporangia are at first black; after spore disposal pale ferruginous. In shape they vary from ovate to spherical. Sometimes they are umbilicate below, so that a vertical section would be obcordate. Care must be taken to distinguish the present species from blown-out forms of _Lamproderma_.
This most common species seems to be also the center of widest differentiation. In a valuable paper on the Myxomycetes of Dr. C. H. Peck's Herbarium Dr. Sturgis points out the varying relationships of a group of surrounding forms. According to account _C. nigra_ verges on one side to _C. laxa_, on the other to _aequalis_ which the Listers enter as varietal here. However, in the former the more rigid, direct and simple branching from the columella is usually determinative; in the latter the color, form, and generally more delicate structure, and a tendency to grow in tufts will serve to distinguish.
In this discussion we have assumed as typical the globose sporangium, with the variations in the direction of ovate, obovate, ellipsoidal, etc., the capillitium flexuous and more richly anastomosing near the columella. On the drier slopes in the mountains of Colorado specimens are especially abundant, in proper season covering apparently the lower surface of every barkless twig or fallen stem or _tree entire_! In such a field one might imagine every possible variation open to observation. Probably such is the case; but as a matter of fact a single small plasmodium at lower levels will sometimes show greater range of variation than were noted on the mountain-side. The cylindric forms were for some reason few, and when noted were short, though often surmounting stems of double the usual length.
Rostafinski calls this _C. friesiana_, a name suggested by De Bary. By this name the species was commonly known for many years. More recently some writers prefer _C. obtusata_ Preuss; but _C. obtusata_ Preuss, as figured by that author (Sturm's _Deutsch. Fl._, Pl. 70), is surely more likely _Enerthenema papillata_, and the author says in his description "capillitio vertice soli innato." Persoon certainly recognized the species, and his description, though brief, is yet applicable to no other European species. There seems no reason why the name he gave should not be permanently adopted. Rostafinski's figure, Tab. XIII., shows an ellipsoidal sporangium, not cylindric.
On the lower levels of the Mississippi valley, the species is not common. Possibly overlooked by reason of its minuteness.
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, North Carolina, Missouri.
9. COMATRICHA AEQUALIS _Peck._
PLATE VI., Figs. 3, 3 _a_, 3 _b_, 3 _c_, 3 _d_; and PLATE XVIII., Figs. 13, 13 _a_, 13 _b_.
1890. _Comatricha equalis_ Peck., _Rep. N. Y. Mus._, XXXI., p. 42.
Sporangia gregarious, seldom erect, usually inclined, curved or nodding, dark brown, becoming violet, cylindric, acuminate-obtuse, stipitate; stipe about half the total height, 2-2-1/2 mm., black, polished, even; hypothallus well developed, brown, continuous; columella black, tapering gradually, and attaining almost the summit of the sporangium; capillitium dense, of flexuous tawny threads which, by repeated branching, form an intricate network, the free extremities numerous, short, and pale; spores dark violaceous, distinctly warted, 7.5-8 mu.
A very graceful, elegant species, related to _C. pulchella_ and _C. persoonii_, but distinct by its much greater size and smaller spores. The specimens before show us the perfection of beauty in this genus; the polished stipe, the symmetrical capillitium, the soft purple-brown tints, are remarkable, and enable one to recognize the form at sight.
Specimens from Oregon are unusually fine; larger than usual, reach 7 mm. total height, and when blown out present the tints of violet in unusual clearness; var. _C. pacifica_. Plate XVIII., Figs. 13, 13_a_, and 13_b_.
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois; Oregon, _Professor Peck._
10. COMATRICHA TYPHOIDES (_Bull._) _Rost._
PLATE VI., Figs. 1, 1 _a_, 1 _b_.
1772. _Mucor stemonitis_ Scopoli, _Fl. Carn._, II., pp. 493-494 (?). 1774. _Mucor stemonitis_ Schaeffer, _Icones. Tab._, CCXCVII (?). 1780. _Stemonitis typhina_ Wiggers, _Prim. Fl. Hols._, p. 116 (?). 1791. _Trichia typhoides_ Bulliard, _Champ. de la France_, p. 119, t. 477, II. 1796. _Stemonitis typhina_ Persoon, _Myc. Obs._, I., p. 57, in part. 1805. _Stemonitis typhoides_ (Bull.) D. C., _Fl. Fr._, p. 257. 1829. _Stemonitis typhoides_ (Bull.) Fr., _Syst. Myc._, III., p. 158. 1873. _Comatricha typhoides_ (Bull.) Rost., _Vers._, p. 7. 1875. _Comatricha typhina_ (Pers.) Rost., _Mon._, p. 197. 1895. _Comatricha stemonitis_ (Scop.) Sheldon, _Minn. Bot. Stud._, p. 473. 1899. _Comatricha stemonitis_ (Scop.) Sheld., Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 130. 1911. _Comatricha typhoides_ Rost., List., _Mycetozoa, 2nd ed._, p. 157.
Sporangia gregarious, scattered, cylindric, erect, sometimes arcuate, obtuse, 2-3 mm. high, at first silvery, then brown, as the peridium vanishes, stipitate; stipe black, about one-half the total height or less; hypothallus distinct, more or less continuous, reddish-brown; columella tapering upward, black, attaining more or less completely the apex of the sporangium; capillitium, arising as rather stout branches of the capillitium, soon taking the form of slender, flexuous, brownish threads, which by repeated anastomosing form at length a close network, almost as in _Stemonitis_, the free, ultimate branches very delicate and short; spore-mass dark brown; spores by transmitted light, pale, almost smooth, except for the presence of a few scattered but very prominent umbo-like warts, of which four or five may be seen at one time, 5-7.5 mu.
This is our most common North American species. It occurs everywhere on decaying wood, sometimes in remarkable quantity, thousands of sporangia at a time. The plasmodium, watery white in color, infests preferably very rotten logs of _Quercus_, on which in June the sporangia rise as white or pallid columns. The peridium is exceedingly delicate, less seldom seen here than in some other species, but likely to be overlooked entirely. The spores when fresh have a distinct violet or bluish tinge; in old specimens they are almost colorless. In any case they are well marked by the large papillae already referred to.
_C. typhina_, var. _heterospora_ Rex, differs from the type in several particulars: the sporangia manifest a closer habit; the capillitium is made up of more slender threads and forms a yet denser network; the spores between the large papillae are marked by a more or less perfectly formed reticulation.[37]
As to nomenclature, this is our old friend _C. typhina_ (Pers.) Rost. It should be, more properly, called _C. typhina_ Rost., for it is not Persoon's species exactly. But Scopoli, _l. c._, by citing Hall, Gleditsch, and Micheli, so describes our form as to leave small doubt that he had before him our common species. Schaeffer's figures also come to the rescue, which, though by no means satisfactory, yet can probably refer to no other species. However, Bulliard gives the first good account and figure, and in concord with the decision of our English colleagues, the name afforded by the famous _Champignons_ is here adopted.
Widely distributed. Maine to California, and from British America to Nicaragua.
11. COMATRICHA ELEGANS (_Racib._) _List._
PLATE XVI., Fig. 12.
1884. _Rostafinskia elegans_ Racib., _Rozpr. Akad. Krak._, XII., 77. 1888. _Raciborskia elegans_ Berl., _Sacc. Syl._, VII., p. 400. 1894. _Raciborskia elegans_ Berl., List., _Mycet._, p. 133. 1909. _Comatricha elegans_ List., _Br. Mus. Guide to Mycet._, p. 31.
Sporangia loosely gregarious, globose, purplish-brown, small, 1-1.5 mm. in total height, stipitate; stipe black, subulate, to 1 mm,; columella at first divided into a few main branches, from which by repeated subdivision the delicate, anastomosing, flexuose capillitial threads take origin; spores pale brownish-violaceous, spinulescent, 8-10 mu.
South Carolina. Colorado:--_Dr. Sturgis._
12. COMATRICHA RUBENS _Lister._
1894. _Comatricha rubens_ List., _Mycet._, p. 123.
Sporangia gregarious, globoid or ellipsoidal, 1-1.5 mm., pink-brown, stipitate; peridium persistent below; stipe .5-1 mm., black, shining; columella to more than half the sporangium, giving off on all sides the brownish-violaceous, flexuose threads of the capillitium, somewhat thickened and broadly attached to the persisting peridial cup; spores lilac-brown, spinulescent, 7-8 mu.
Another border species, looking to the lamprodermas. Philadelphia, by courtesy _Mr. Bilgram_.
13. COMATRICHA PULCHELLA (_Bab._) _Rost._
PLATE XIII., Fig. 4, and PLATE XII., Figs. 16 and 16 _a_.
1837. _Stemonitis pulchella_ Bab., _Trans. Lin. Soc._, p. 32. 1841. _Comatricha pulchella_ Bab., Berk., _Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist._, I. vi., p. 431, Pl. XII., 11. _a._ _b._ 1848. _Stemonitis tenerrima_ Curtis, _Am. Jour._, VI., p. 352. 1873. _Stemonitis tenerrima_ Berk. & C., _Grev._, II., p. 69. 1876. _Comatricha pulchella_ (Bab.) Rost., _Mon. App._, p. 27. 1875. _Comatricha persoonii_ Rost., _Mon._, p. 201. 1894. _Comatricha persoonii_ Rost., List., _Mycet._, p. 122. 1899. _Comatricha pulchella_ (Bab.) Rost., Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 129. 1899. _Comatricha persoonii_ Rost., Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 132, _excl. syn._ 1911. _Comatricha pulchella_ Rost., List., _Mycet., 2nd ed._, p. 156. 1911. _Comatricha pulchella_ var. _gracilis_ Wing., List., _Mycet., 2nd ed._, p. 156.
Sporangia very minute, 1 mm. high, scattered, ovate or ovate-cylindric acuminate, pale brown or ferruginous, stipitate; stipe short, black, nearly even; hypothallus none, or merely a circular base to the tiny stem; columella straight, gradually tapering, reaching almost if not quite to the apex of the sporangium; capillitium dense, a network of flexuous brown threads, rather broad within, ending in slender tips without; spore-mass brown, spores by transmitted light pale "lilac brown," or pale ferruginous, minutely but uniformly warted, 6-8 mu.
Probably widely distributed but rarely collected. Pennsylvania, Iowa; _Okoboji_. Toronto,--_Miss Currie._
14. COMATRICHA ELLISII _Morg._
PLATE XII., Figs. 15 and 15 _a_.
1894. _Comatricha ellisii_ Morg., _Jour. Cin. Soc._, p. 49. 1899. _Comatricha laxa_ Rost., Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 127. 1911. _Comatricha nigra_ Schroet., List., _Mycet., 2nd ed._, p. 152.
Sporangia short, erect, oval or ovoid to oblong. Stipe and columella erect, brown and smooth, rising from a thin pallid hypothallus, tapering upward and vanishing into the capillitium toward the apex of the sporangium, the stipe usually longer than the columella. Capillitium of slender pale brown threads; these branch several times with lateral anastomosing branchlets, forming a rather open network of small meshes, ending with very short free extremities. Spores globose, even, pale ochraceous, 6-7 mic. in diameter.
Growing on old pine wood. Sporangium .3-.6 mm. in height by .3-.5 mm. in width, the stipe usually a little longer than the sporangium.
On the strength of the clear descriptions and beautiful drawings of Celakowsky, _Myxomyceten Boehmens_, p. 52; Taf. 2, Figs. 7 and 8, this elegant little species as described by my colleague Professor Morgan was, in the former edition, referred to _C. laxa_ Rost. It was then reported from New Jersey only. Since then we have specimens from Ohio and from southern Missouri, all true to form, almost identical. It seems wise accordingly, while recognizing the relationship of the form to both _C. laxa_, and to _C. nigra_ as well, to give it here an individual place again. It is very small; but once studied may thereafter be easily recognized by a hand-lens. The form is definite, clean-cut, and the spores are pronouncedly smaller than in either of the two related species.
15. COMATRICHA SUBCAESPITOSA _Peck._
PLATE XII., Figs. 17, 17 _a_.
1890. _Comatricha subcaespitosa_ Peck, _N. Y. Mus. Rep._ 43, p. 25.
Sporangia scattered or sometimes in loose clusters, cylindric, obtuse, about 1.5-2 mm., dark brown, stipitate; stipe short, one-fifth total height; hypothallus minute; capillitium regular, the branching quite uniform parallel, flexuous, brown with a tinge of violet, not dense; columella well-defined, almost percurrent; spores brown in mass, under lens dusky, nearly smooth, 9-10 mu.
The larger spores, regular, erect form, and clustered habit separate this form from others with which it will be naturally associated. See page 283 under _Addenda_.
=4. Diachaea= _Fries_
1825. _Diachaea_ Fries, _Syst. Orb. Veg._, I., p. 143.[38]
Sporangia distinct, globose or cylindric, the peridium thin, iridescent, stipitate; the stipe and columella surcharged with lime, white or yellowish, rigid, thick, tapering upward; capillitium of delicate threads free from lime, radiating from various points on the columella, branching and anastomosing as in _Comatricha_ to form a more or less intricate network, the ultimate branchlets supporting the peridial wall.
Rostafinski placed this genus near the _Didymieae_ on account of the calcareous columella and the non-calcareous capillitium. On the other hand the structure of the capillitium and the iridescent simple peridium ally _Diachaea_ to _Lamproderma_ and the _Stemoniteae_; the only distinction being the calcareous stem. It is simply an intermediate genus to be placed here more conveniently than anywhere else in what is of necessity a linear arrangement.
=Key to the Species of Diachaea=
_A._ Stipe and columella white.
_a._ Sporangium cylindric 1. _D. leucopodia_
_b._ Sporangium globose.
i. Evidently stalked 2. _D. splendens_
ii. Stalk very short, 5 mm., conic.
O Spores warted 3. _D. bulbillosa_
OO Spores faintly netted 4. _D. subsessilis_
_B._ Stipe yellowish or orange 5. _D. thomasii_
1. DIACHAEA LEUCOPODIA (_Bull._) _Rost._
1791. _Trichia leucopodia_ Bull., _Champ. de la France_, Pl. 502, Fig. 2. 1825. _Diachaea elegans_ Fries, _Syst. Orb. Veg._, I., p. 143. 1875. _Diachaea leucopoda_ (Bull.) Rost., _Mon._, p. 190.
Sporangia rather closely gregarious, metallic blue or purple iridescent, cylindric or ellipsoidal, obtuse, sub-umbilicate below, stipitate; stipe short, much less than one-half the total height, snow-white, tapering upward; hypothallus white, venulose, occurring from stipe to stipe to form an open network over the substratum; columella thick, cylindric, tapering, blunt, terminating below the apex, white; capillitium springing from every part of the columella, of slender threads, brown, flexuous, branching and anastomosing to form an intricate net; spores in mass nearly black, by transmitted light dull violaceous, minutely roughened, 7-9 mu.
A very beautiful species; not uncommon in the eastern states; rare west of the Mississippi. Easily recognized, amid related forms, by its snow-white stem, a feature which did not escape the notice of Bulliard and suggested the accepted specific name. Fries adopted the specific name proposed by Trentepohl and wrote _D. elegans_, simply because to him the peridium was "admodum elegans."
The peridium is exceedingly thin and early deciduous; the stipe long persistent. The plasmodium, dull white, was observed by Fries at the beginning of the century; "morphoseos clavem inter myxogastres hoc genus primum mihi subministravit."
This species, as the diachaeas generally, affects fallen sticks and leaves in orchards and forests and even spreads boldly over the foliage and stems of living plants.
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, California, Canada.
2. DIACHAEA SPLENDENS _Peck._
PLATE VII., Figs. 1, 1 _a_, 1 _b_, 1 _c_.
1877. _Diachaea splendens_ Peck, _Rep. N. Y. Mus._, XXX., p. 50.
Sporangia gregarious, metallic blue with brilliant iridescence, globose, stipitate; stipe white, short, tapering upward; hypothallus white, venulose, a network supporting the snowy stipes; columella white, cylindric, passing the centre, obtuse; capillitium lax, of slender, anastomosing, brown, translucent threads; spores in mass black, by transmitted light dark-violaceous, very coarsely warted, 7-10 mu.
This is perhaps the most showy species of the list. The globose brilliantly iridescent sporangia are lifted above the substratum on snow-white columnar stalks; these are again joined one to another by the pure white vein-like cords of the reticulate hypothallus. The plasmodium may spread very widely over all sorts of objects that come in the way, dry forest leaves and sticks, or the fruit and foliage of living plants. Closely resembling the preceding, but differing in the globose sporangia, it may be instantly recognized under the lenses by its coarsely papillate spores.
Not common. New York, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska.
3. DIACHAEA SUBSESSILIS _Pk._
1879. _Diachaea subsessilis_ Pk., _Rep. N. Y. Mus. Nat. History_, XXXI., p. 41. 1894. _Diachaea subsessilis_ Pk., Lister, _Mycetozoa_, p. 92.
Sporangia gregarious or closely crowded, small, about .5 mm., dull iridescent-blue, greenish-gray, etc., globose or depressed-globose, short-stalked or nearly sessile; stipe generally very short, reduced sometimes to a mere persistent cone, white; columella obsolescent or reduced to white conical intrusion of the stipe; capillitium radiating from the stipe, brown, consisting of branching, anastomosing threads, paler at the tips; hypothallus very scanty or none; spores minutely warted, the papillae arranged in an irregular, loose net-work, violet-brown, paler under the lens, 10-12 mu.
This species is easily recognizable by its diminutive size and generally defective structure; i. e. it has the appearance of a degenerate or depauperate representative of some finer form. Besides the type, yet to be seen in Albany, Dr. Sturgis reports the species from Connecticut and from the Isle of Wight! A small gathering is before me from Colorado. Every sporangium is borne upon a calcareous pedicel, very short indeed, but real. The _var. globosa_ referred to in the English text under _D. leucopodia_ has not appeared so far as reported, on this side the sea, but even such variety could scarcely in the hands of a collector take the place of the form now under consideration.
Specimens of _D. subsessilis_ from Europe correspond remarkably with those described by Drs. Peck and Sturgis. Mr. Lister would have our species a synonym for _Lamproderma fuckelianum cracovense_ (Rost.) Cel.
Rare; from Connecticut to Colorado.
4. DIACHAEA BULBILLOSA (_Berk. & Br._) _List._
1873. _Didymium bulbillosum_ Berk. & Br., _Jour. Linn. Soc._, XIV., p. 84. 1898. _Diachaea bulbillosa_ Lister, _Jour. Bot._, XXXVI., p. 165. 1911. _Diachaea bulbillosa_ Lister, _Mycetozoa, 2nd ed._, p. 119.
Sporangia gregarious, globose, small, iridescent purple, stipitate; stipe conical, white, sometimes brown, half-a-mm., half the total height; columella clavate, white or brown; capillitium of purple-brown threads united to form a lax net; spores violet-grey, marked with scattered warts "6-8 in a row across the hemisphere", 7-9 mu.
Java, _Berkeley & Broome, op. c._ Toronto, Canada; cited here by courtesy of Miss Currie who gives the spores 7.8 mu.
5. DIACHAEA THOMASII _Rex._
PLATE V., Fig. 6, 6 _a_.
1892. _Diachaea thomasii_ Rex, _Proc. Phil. Acad._, p. 329.
Sporangia gregarious, more or less crowded, purple and bronze, iridescent, globose sessile or short stipitate; stipe, when present, very short, thick, tapering rapidly upward, orange; hypothallus orange, prominent venulose, continuous; columella ochre yellow, rough, cylindric, tapering upward to one-half the height of the sporangium, obtuse; capillitium lax, of slender brown rigid threads, radiating from the columella in every direction, anastomosing to form a loose, large-meshed network; spore-mass brown; spores by transmitted light violaceous, minutely, unevenly warted, 10-12 mu.
The peculiar orange color of the calcareous deposits in stipe and columella easily distinguish this species. The capillitium is also distinctive, rigid, simple, and comparatively scant, lamprodermoid. Rex calls attention to the fact that under low magnification the spores appear spotted; but the spots are occasioned simply by the closer aggregation, at particular points, of the ordinary papillae.
A southern species. All the specimens so far reported are from the mountains of North Carolina.
The specimens referred to under this name by Lister, _Mon._, p. 92, as coming from "Kittery, U. S. A." (Kittery, Maine?), are, no doubt, according to Mr. Lister's figures, _Comatricha caespitosa_ Sturgis. See under that species.
_C._ LAMPRODERMACEAE
Sporangia distinct, generally gregarious, more or less spherical; capillitium developed chiefly or solely from the summit of the columella.
=Key to the Genera of the Lamprodermaceae=
_A._ Columella percurrent; capillitium from a disk at the apex 1. ENERTHENEMA
_B._ Columella scarce reaching the centre of the sporangium.
_a._ Capillitium not forming a net 2. CLASTODERMA
_b._ Capillitium forming an intricate net 3. LAMPRODERMA
_c._ Minute, capillitium rudimentary 4. ECHINOSTELIUM
=1. Enerthenema= _Bowman_
1828. _Enerthenema_ Bowman, _Trans. Linn. Soc._, XVI., p. 152.
Sporangia stipitate, the stipe extended as a columella, which entirely traverses the sporangium and forms at the apex an expanded disk; from this depends the capillitium.
=Key to the Species of Enerthenema=
_A._ Spores free 1. _E. papillatum_
_B._ Spores in clusters 2. _E. berkeleyanum_
1. ENERTHENEMA PAPILLATUM (_Pers._) _Rost._
PLATE V., Fig. 3.
1801. _Stemonitis papillata_ Pers., _Syn._, p. 188. 1828. _Enerthenema elegans_ Bowm., _Trans. Linn. Soc._, XVI., p. 152. 1862. _Comatricha obtusata_ Preuss, Sturm, _Deutschl. Flora_, Pl. LXX. 1876. _Enerthenema papillatum_ (Pers.) Rost., _Mon. App._, p. 28.
Sporangia scattered or crowded, stipitate, spheroidal, naked, black fuscous, above, shining, adorned with a minute, black papilla; stipe black, opaque, conical or attenuate upward, about equal to the peridium; columella at the apex expanded into a shining disk; capillitium springing from the lower side of the disk or from its edge, made up of scarcely forked threads which are free below; spores violaceous or fuscous black, minutely warted, 10-12 mu.
Rare. Wisconsin, Ohio, South Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Colorado.
This is one of the few species so well marked that Persoon's description, _l. c._, is definitive: "Stylidio toto penetrante. Capillitium exacte globosum, sub-compactum, in eius apice stylidium papillae in modum prominet." For this reason Bowman's specific name _elegans_ is discarded.
2. ENERTHENEMA BERKELEYANUM _Rost._
1876. _Enerthenema berkeleyanum_ Rost., _Mon. App._, p. 29. 1913. _Enerthenema syncarpon_ Sturgis, _Myxo. Col._, II., p. 448.
This species corresponds to the preceding in all respects except in the fact that the spores are clustered in groups of four to twelve and are a little larger, 11-13 mu, strongly spinulose on the exposed surface.
Dr. Sturgis reports this from Colorado, _l. c._, but discards Rostafinski's specific name on the ground that the type has disappeared; only the spores of some fungus hyphae remain in the place and these may have been mistaken by Berkeley. This seems hardly possible since such supposition would not account for the generic reference either by Berkeley (and Broome) or by Rostafinski. The description in the _Monograph_ is minute as that of one who had the form under his lenses. Rostafinski _saw_ Berkeley's specimens.
For a similar case, see under _Prototrichia metallica, Mycetozoa 2nd ed._, p. 261.
South Carolina, type; Colorado.
=2. Clastoderma= _Blytt_
1880. _Clastoderma_ Blytt, _Bot. Zeit._, XXXVIII., p. 343.
Sporangium globose, distinct, stipitate; the columella short or obsolete; the capillitium of few sparsely branched threads, which bear at their tops the persistent fragments of the peridium, but are not otherwise united.
Distinguished from _Lamproderma_ by the peculiar manner in which the peridium is ruptured, and by the simplicity of the scanty capillitium. So far there appears to be but a single species.
1. CLASTODERMA DEBARYANUM _Blytt._
PLATE XIII., Fig. 6, and PLATE XVI., Fig. 13.
1880. _Clastoderma debaryanum_ Blytt, _Bot. Zeit._, XXXVIII., p. 343. 1886. _Orthotrichia microcephala_ Wing., _Jour. Myc._, II., p. 126.
Sporangia scattered or gregarious, very minute, 1-12 to 1/4 mm. in diameter, the peridium fugacious, except the minute patches that adhere to the capillitial branchlets, and the slight annulus at the base of the columella; stipe long, unequal, dark below, above paler; columella almost none, giving early rise to the comparatively few slender threads which by their repeated forking make up the capillitium; spores globose, even, violaceous, 8-9 mu.
Reported in the United States so far from Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois.
The sporangia are very small, but beautiful, delicate little structures, found on the bark of living red oak in this country; in Norway it seems to have been seen first on a dead polyporus. Its minuteness doubtless causes it to be generally overlooked, _N. A. F._, 2498.
=3. Lamproderma= _Rostafinski_
1873. _Lamproderma_ Rostafinski, _Versuch_, p. 7.
Sporangia stipitate, globose, or ellipsoid; columella cylindric or inflated or clavate at the apex, scarcely attaining half the height of the peridium; peridium shining with metallic tints, deciduous, except where, at the base of the columella, it forms a ring around the stipe; capillitium rising in tufts or by simple branches from the columella, the threads regularly forked, generally united into a net.
The lamprodermas are distinguished from the comatrichas, to which they are most nearly allied, by the arrangement of the capillitium, its development from the apex only of the columella, the continuation of the stipe within the peridium. In other words, the peridium leaves the stipe some distance below the point where the lowest capillitial branches take origin. In mature specimens the peridium has often entirely disappeared, its only trace, a collar, more or less distinct, around the stipe, marking the beginning of the columella. Nevertheless the peridium is far more persistent than in any comatricha, and shows in yet greater brilliancy the wondrous metallic tints and iridescence of _Comatricha_ and _Diachaea_. Older authors, so far as can be seen, distributed the species between _Physarum_ and _Stemonitis_.
=Key to the Species of Lamproderma=
_A._ Peridium metallic blue.
_a._ Stipe short, stout.
1. Capillitium tips colorless 5. _L. violaceum_
_b._ Stipe long, slender.
1. Capillitium of dark, tapering, oft-united threads 3. _L. columbinum_
2. Capillitial threads rigid, dark brown, seldom united 4. _L. scintillans_
_B._ Peridium not blue, silvery.
_a._ Stipe long, slender.
1. Capillitium very intricate, forming a compact net 6. _L. arcyrionema_
2. Capillitium of rigid dark brown threads 1. _L. physaroides_
_b._ Stipe short, heads large, 1 mm. or more 2. _L. robustum_
1. LAMPRODERMA PHYSAROIDES (_Alb. & Schw._) _Rost._
1805. _Physarum physaroides_ Alb. & Schw., _Consp. Fung._, p, 103. 1875. _Lamproderma physaroides_ (Alb. & Schw.) Rost., _Mon._, p. 202.
Sporangia gregarious, wide-spreading, globose, the peridium persistent with a silver metallic, sometimes brassy, lustre; stipe long, brown or black, tapering upward; hypothallus well developed, brown or purple, usually not continuous; columella swollen, obtuse, short at best, hardly attaining the centre of the sporangium; capillitium very rigid, of simple or sparingly branched, dark-brown threads radiating from the clavate apex of the columella and only here and there anastomosing toward the surface, the ultimate divisions distinctly rough; spores lilac brown, rough, 10-12.5 mu.
This species is well described and illustrated in Rostafinski's _Monograph_. It is well marked by its clavate columella and peculiarly simple, dark rigid capillitium, the branches of which rise in great numbers immediately from the columella, and maintain their primitive thickness during the greater part of their length. The transverse vincula are often at right angles to the principal branches, and the meshes, where formed, are often long and rectangular. Externally, it resembles _L. arcyrionema_, but is by its spores and capillitium instantly distinguished. Rostafinski gives the spores 12.5-14.2 mu. Large spores are less common in the specimens before us. Lister figures a sessile variety.
In our first edition this species was entered from lists published for New England, New York, and Ohio. The intervening years, however, have brought no confirmation. Specimens from Maine and Ohio, with large spores, represent _L. columbinum_, and those cited for New York are forms of _L. violaceum_. It is accordingly doubtful that _L. physaroides_ (A. & S.) Rost. occurs in North America. That it is to be found in Europe there seems no doubt. The figure and description by Schweinitz, _l. c._, may indeed be inconclusive, but Rostafinski's citation and abundant description leave no doubt as to his opinion; while numerous localities named would indicate adequate material. What Rostafinski described will no doubt obtain wider recognition some day.
2. LAMPRODERMA ROBUSTUM _Ell. & Evh._
1892. _Lamproderma robustum_ Ell. & Evh., Mass., _Mon._, p. 99. 1894. _Lamproderma violaceum_ var. _sauteri_ Rost., List., _Mycetozoa_, p. 129. 1899. _Lamproderma sauteri_ Rost., Macbr., _N. A. S._, p. 140.
Sporangia gregarious, globose, dull black, the peridium when present silvery, shining, or simply smooth, transparent and without iridescence, stipitate; stipe short, black, tapering rapidly upward, annulate with the persisting base of the peridium; columella short, thick, truncate, and widened at the top; hypothallus well developed, brown or purple; capillitium dense, made up of dark brown branches, numerous and rather slender, repeatedly branched and anastomosing toward the surface to form a slight delicate network with abundant free ends; spores dark purple brown, rough, 14-16 mu.
This species in outward appearance resembles _L. physaroides_, from which it is easily distinguished by the much greater diameter of the globose sporangium, 1 mm. or more. The persistent base of the peridium is also characteristic, very prominent sometimes, and visible to the naked eye. The capillitium is also unlike that of _L. physaroides_; resembles more nearly that of _L. violaceum_. From the latter species _L. robustum_ is distinguished by the color of the peridium, and by the larger, darker spores and generally different capillitium. In our former edition this is called _L. sauteri_ Rost. That much-quoted author distinguished _L. violaceum_ and _L. sauteri_; the English authors make the last named a variety only of the former. This our American species is _not_.
It is, as presented in our western mountains, clear-cut, well defined, not a variety of anything. The original name is therefore restored.
_Lamproderma arcyrioides_ (Somm.) Morgan is probably a form of _L. columbinum_. The original _L. arcyrioides_ has not yet been certainly identified in North America; see following species.
Colorado, Oregon, Washington, California.
3. LAMPRODERMA COLUMBINUM (_Pers._) _Rost._
1796. _Physarum columbinum_ Pers., _Obs. Myc._, I., p. 5. 1875. _Lamproderma columbinum_ Rost., _Mon._, p. 203.
Sporangia scattered, gregarious; rich violet or purple with metallic iridescence, globose, stipitate; the stipe long, three-fourths the total height, slender, subulate, black; hypothallus scant, purplish or brown; columella small, one-third the height or less, tapering or acute, black; the capillitium brown throughout, not dense, arising from nearly all parts of the columella, freely branching and anastomosing to an open, large-meshed network; spore-mass black, spores by transmitted light dark brown, rough, 10-12 mu.
Rostafinski distinguished this beautiful species by the color of the peridium and the conic columella. According to Mr. Lister, Rostafinski was not specially careful in labelling his material, different forms having been included under this specific name. Nevertheless, the description is well drawn, and excludes _L. physaroides_ completely. At all events our American specimens correspond so well with the description of _L. columbinum_ (Pers.) Rost. that there seems no doubt that we have here what the Polish author figured and described, whether or not he was always consistent in applying his labels. The color distinguishes at sight the present species from _L. physaroides_, and the capillitium and large rough brown spores distinguish it from _L. violaceum_. The capillitium of the minute _L. scintillans_ is much denser and more rigid, and the spores smaller. The stipe when dry is ciliate.
This is the common species of our western mountains, especially on the Pacific slope. In the Cascades every dark ravine is certain to show it in later summer and autumn, far extended colonies covering the moist surfaces of every mouldering log; the myriad globoid sporangia giving back when brought to the sunlight the most extravagant blues and greens with all the splendor of metallic sheen, their brilliant beauty never fails to quicken the attention of even the most insensate tourist.
Abundant in the western forests, in the east extremely rare; Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington, Oregon; Vancouver, Canada.
4. LAMPRODERMA SCINTILLANS (_Berk. & Br._) _Morg._
PLATE V., Figs. 2, 2 _a_.
1877. _Stemonitis scintillans_ Berk. & Br., _Jour. Linn. Soc._, XV., p. 2. 1877. _Lamproderma arcyrioides_, var. _iridea_ Cke., _Myx. G. B._, p. 50. 1892. _Lamproderma irideum_ (Cke.) Mass., _Mon._, p. 95. 1894. _Lamproderma scintillans_ (Berk. & Br.) Morg., _Jour. Cin. Soc._, p. 47.
Sporangia gregarious, scattered, globose or depressed-globose, rich metallic blue or purple, iridescent, stipitate; the stipe long, slender, even, inclined and nodding or sometimes erect; hypothallus small, circular; columella cylindric, small, not reaching the centre, black; capillitium dense, of rigid, straight, sparingly branched or anastomosing, brown threads, which are sometimes white or colorless just as they leave the columella; spores globose, rough, violaceous brown, 8 mu.
This is _L. irideum_ of Cooke and of Massee's _Monograph_. Its capillitium is remarkable, and constitutes an easy diagnostic mark. The threads appear at first sight entirely simple, but are really several times furcate, and not infrequently anastomose. The spores are covered with sparsely sown large papillae, easily seen under moderate magnification.
This is one of our earliest species. To be sought in May on beds of decaying oak leaves in the woods, especially in wet places, near streams, etc.
Rare. New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa.
5. LAMPRODERMA VIOLACEUM (_Fries_) _Rost._
1829. _Stemonitis violacea_ Fries, _Syst. Myc._, III., p. 162. 1875. _Lamproderma violaceum_ (Fries) _Rost., Mon._, p. 204.
Sporangia closely gregarious or scattered, depressed-globose, more or less umbilicate below, metallic blue or purple, sessile or short stipitate; stipe stout, dark brown or black, even; hypothallus, when the sporangia are crowded, a thin, continuous, purplish membrane; when the sporangia are scattered, the hypothallus discoidal; columella cylindric or tapering slightly upward, the apex obtuse, black, attaining the centre of the sporangium; capillitium lax and flaccid, made up of flexuous threads branching and anastomosing to form a network, open in the interior, more dense without, the threads at first pale brown as they leave the columella, becoming paler outward to the colorless tips; spores minutely warted, violaceous gray, 9-11 mu.
This is our most common species; found on decaying sticks and logs late in the fall. Its pale capillitium will usually distinguish it, especially where the sporangia are empty; then the pallid free extremities of the capillitial branches give to the little spheres under the lens a white or hoary appearance not seen in any other species.
The plasmodium is at first almost transparent, then amber tinted, sending up tiny semi-transparent spheres on shining brownish stalks. As the changes approach maturity, the sporangia become jet-black, and only at last when the spores are ready for dispersal does the peridium assume its rich metallic purple tints. Colonies a meter in length, two or three decimeters in width, are sometimes seen!
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota; Toronto. Common.
6. LAMPRODERMA ARCYRIONEMA _Rost._
PLATE V., Figs. 1, 1 _a_.
1875. _Lamproderma arcyrionema_ Rost., _Mon._, p. 208.
Sporangia gregarious, scattered, globose, silvery gray or bronze, iridescent, erect, stipitate; stipe black, long, two-thirds to three-fourths the total height, slender, rigid; columella slender, cylindric, attaining about one-third the height of the sporangium when it breaks into the primary branches of the capillitium; capillitium exceedingly intricate, made up of slender, flexuous brown threads which frequently branch and anastomose to form an elegant round-meshed network resembling that of _Arcyria_, free ultimate branchlets not numerous; spores in mass jet-black, by transmitted light violaceous, smooth, or only faintly warted, 6-8 mu.
In outward appearance this species resembles _L. physaroides_, but is easily recognizable by its very peculiar capillitium. This, in its primary branching, resembles a comatricha. In typical forms, the columella branches at the apex only, generally into two strong divisions which then break up irregularly and anastomose in every direction. This seems to have been the form present to Rostafinski when he wrote "columella truncate." In Central American and some North American specimens, the branching is very different; the twigs leave the columella at various points almost down to the annulus, and the entire effect is dendroid. The columella is lost almost at once. A small form of this species was formerly distributed in the United States as _Comatricha friesiana_ DeBy. This circumstance led the present author to describe Central American forms as _C. shimekiana_. Judging from a remark by Massee (_Mon._, p. 97), a similar confusion seems to have prevailed in Europe. As a matter of fact, the resemblance between _C. friesiana_, i. e. _C. nigra_, and the present species is sufficiently remote.
_Lamproderma minutum_ Rostafinski seems to be a small form of this species. Rostafinski bases his diagnosis upon the branching of the columella, which is, as we have seen, inconstant, and upon the colorless capillitium. This feature in specimens examined is also inconstant.
Occurring in large colonies on barkless decaying logs of various species; the plasmodium almost colorless.
New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, Nicaragua; Vancouver's Island; Ontario, Toronto,--_Miss Currie._
=4. Echinostelium= _DeBary_
1873. _Echinostelium_ DeBary, Rost., _Versuch_, p. 7.
Sporangia distinct, globose, minute, the structure limited to a few imperfect rib-like, loosely joined branches developed from the short columella or stem-top, sustaining the spores.
A single species:--
1. ECHINOSTELIUM MINUTUM _DeBy_.
1873. _Echinostelium minutum_ DeBy., Rost., _Versuch_, p. 7.
PLATE XIX., Figs. 11 and 11 _a_
Sporangia distinct, scattered, globose, very minute, 40-50 mu, stipitate; the stipe, hair-like subulate, granular but hyaline; columella minute or none; capillitium consisting of a few arcuate spinose threads loosely united supporting the uncovered spores, spores globose, colorless, smooth, 7-8 mu.--_Rostafinski._
This very singular and diminutive form, the least of all slime-moulds, is probably widely distributed but the accident of discovery is rare. DeBary found it once only, at Frankfurt am Main.
Miss Lister reports its occurrence in England and Austria. In the United States it has been seen but once on certain laboratory material from Massachusetts, studied by Dr. Thaxter.
Our drawing is after Rostafinski, IV., 68; Miss Lister follows No. 54, and so finds a bit of peridium below the two spores shown in the figure, one on each side of a microscopic _columella_.
This is almost the only taxonomic suggestion;--a mere suggestion; this microscopic bit of anxious life is but a shadow,--a shade, a shadow of a lamproderma!
ORDER III
CRIBRARIALES
Fructification plasmodiocarpous or aethalioid, or consisting of distinct sporangia; peridia membranaceous at maturity, more or less evanescent, opening irregularly or by means of a delicate network, which involves at least the upper part of the sporangium; capillitium usually none; spores of some shade of brown, umbrine, rarely purplish.
This order is distinguished--except in a single case--by the entire absence of true capillitium, the pallid or brown spores, the gradual evolution of distinct sporangia in which provision for spore-dispersal is made by peridial modification especially at the sporangium-top.
=Key to the Families of the Cribrariales=
_A._ Fructification plasmodiocarpous scattered as if made up of the segments of the plasmodial net LICEACAE
_B._ Fructification of distinct and separate sporangia, long stipitate, opening by a delicate operculum at the top ORCADELLACEAE
_C._ Fructification aethalioid, the sporangia generally more or less tubular, often prismatic by mutual pressure; opening by rupture of the apex, the lateral walls entire TUBIFERACEAE
_D._ Fructification aethalioid, the sporangia ill defined, their walls more or less perforate, frayed, or dissipated, forming a pseudo-capillitium, RETICULARIACEAE
_E._ Fructification of distinct and separate sporangia, the walls more or less reticulately perforate especially above CRIBRARIACEAE
_A._ LICEACEAE
A single genus,--
=1. Licea= (_Schrader_) _Rost._
1797. _Licea_ Schrader, _Nov. Gen. Plant._, p. 16, in part. 1875. _Licea_ (Schrader) Rost., _Mon._, p. 218.
Sporangia plasmodiocarpous, looped, irregular, or distinct, sessile, and regularly rounded or elliptical; the peridium simple, rather firm, ruptured irregularly or by simple fissure; hypothallus none.
This genus is distinguished from other similar plasmodiocarpous forms by the extreme simplicity of its structure. There is absolutely no capillitium nor anything like it, simply a mass of spores surrounded by thin membranous walls. The spores range from pale olive, colorless under the lens, through various shades of brown to dusky almost black in _L. pusilla_. Schrader included the _Tubifera_ species.
=Key to the Species of Licea=
_A._ Plainly plasmodiocarpous 1. _L. variabilis_
_B._ Opening by regular segments.
1. Segments two only 2. _L. biforis_
2. Segments several.
i. Spores brown 3. _L. minima_
ii. Spores dusky olive 4. _L. pusilla_
1. LICEA VARIABILIS _Schrader._
PLATE XII., Figs. 7 and 8.
1797. _Licea variabilis_ Schrader, _Nov. Gen._, p. 18, Pl. VI., Figs. 5 and 6. 1801. _Licea variabilis_ Schr., Pers., _Syn. Meth._, p. 197. 1801. _Licea flexuosa_ Pers., _Syn. Meth._, p. 197. 1911. _Licea flexuosa_ Pers., List., _Mycetozoa, 2nd ed._, p. 189.
Fructification plasmodiocarpous, elongate, hamate, annulate or irregularly repent, very dark brown, rough, the peridium of two layers, the outer closely adhering, dark brown, thick, opaque, the inner delicate, membranous, very thin, transparent, iridescent, rugulose, rupturing irregularly; hypothallus none; spores in mass pale yellow with a greenish tinge, by transmitted light nearly colorless, large, globose, minutely spinulose, 12.5 mu.
This is the largest species of the genus as represented in this country, the plasmodiocarps of various lengths and from .5-.7 mu wide. Somewhat resembling some species of _Ophiotheca_, but of much darker color. The outer peridium is deciduous, and the inner slowly ruptures, by irregular fissures discharging the spores. The plasmodium, according to Schrader, is white. Rare. Probably overlooked.
Any good reason for changing the name given to this form so well illustrated and described by Schrader does not appear. Persoon quotes his predecessor's species and adds _L. flexuosa_ on his own account; strangely enough, since Schrader expressly describes _L. variabilis_, "in uno eodemque enim loco peridium hemisphericum, ovatum, oblongum _flexuosum_ vel aliter formatum diversi est diametri."
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa.
_Licea flexuosa_ Pers. is by Schweinitz reported from Pennsylvania. It is described as having brown spores, 10-15 mu, spinulose.
2. LICEA BIFORIS _Morgan._
PLATE XII., Fig. 10.
1893. _Licea biforis_ Morgan, _Jour. Cin. Soc._, p. 5.
Sporangia regular, compressed, sessile on a narrow base, gregarious; the wall firm, thin, smooth, yellow brown in color and nearly opaque, with minute, scattered granules on the inner surface, at maturity opening into two equal parts, which remain persistent by the base; spores yellow-brown in mass, globose or oval, even, 9-12 u.
Minute but perfectly regular, almost uniform, corneous-looking sporangia are thickly strewn over the inner surface of decaying bark. Each, at first elongate, pointed at each end, opens at length by fissure along the upper side setting free the minute yellowish spores. Unlike anything else; reminding one, at first sight, of some species of _Glonium_.
Inside bark of _Liriodendron_. Ohio, Canada.
3. LICEA MINIMA _Fries_.
1829. _Licea minima_ Fries, _Syst. Myc._, III., p. 199.
Sporangia gregarious, umber-brown, spherical or hemispherical, sessile; the peridium opaque, brown, opening along prefigured lines, forming segments with dotted margins, ultimately widely reflexed; spores in mass dark brown, by transmitted light paler with olive tints, minutely roughened, 10-11 mu.
The very minute sporangia, 3 mm., of this species cause it to be overlooked generally by collectors. Nevertheless, it may be found on decaying soft woods, in August, probably around the world. The number of sporangia produced by one plasmodium is in Iowa also small. The larger specimens might be mistaken for species of _Perichaena_, but are easily distinguished by the regular and lobate dehiscence. The plasmodium is yellow.
Dr. George Rex, in almost the last paper from his hand, gives an interesting account of this diminutive species. Among various gatherings studied he found a black variety, a melanistic phase, so to say, and was able to follow the evolution of the sporangia from the yellow plasmodium. The sutures by which the peridium opens, first show signs of differentiation by change of color from yellow through garnet to black. Later the entire wall undergoes similar color changes, beginning next the completed sutural delimitations. Of the open peridia, the reflexed segments remind one of certain didermas, as _D. radiatum_. See _Bot. Gaz._, Vol. XIX., p. 399.
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Iowa.
4. LICEA PUSILLA _Schrader._
1797. _Licea pusilla_ Schrad., _Nov. Gen. Pl._, p. 19, tab. VI., f. 4. 1829. _Physarum licea_ Fries, _Syst. Myc._, III., p. 143. 1875. _Protoderma pusilla_ (Schrader) Rost., _Mon._, p 90.
Sporangia scattered, gregarious, depressed-globose, sessile on a flattened base, dark brown, shining, .5-1 mm.; peridium thin, dark colored, translucent, dehiscent above by regular segments; spore-mass almost black, spores by transmitted light olivaceous brown, smooth, or nearly so, 15-17 mu.
Fries, _l. c._, makes this a physarum, and argues the case at length, evidently with such efficiency that he greatly impressed Rostafinski, who did not make it a physarum indeed, but actually gave it generic place and station of its own; a physarum may do without calcium in the capillitium perhaps, but not be entirely non-calcareous; so he writes _Protoderma_ (first cover) and places the species number 1 on the long list of endosporous forms. Even in his '_Dodatek_', or supplement, as we should say, he refers to the thing again, but only to correct the inflexional ending of the specific name; he writes _Protoderma pusillum_ (Schrader) Rost!
Schweinitz reports the species for America and Morgan cites Schweinitz and reports it for Ohio, but we find it in no American collections.
_B._ ORCADELLACEAE;
Sporangia distinct, minute, long stipitate, opening above by a distinct lid.
A single genus,--
=Orcadella= _Wingate_
1889. _Orcadella_ Wingate, _Proc. Phil. Acad._, p. 280.
Sporangia furnished with rigid, unpolished stipes, blending above with the substance of the thick unpolished walls; the operculum thin, delicate, membranaceous.
A single species,--
1. ORCADELLA OPERCULATA _Wingate._
PLATE XII., Fig. 11.
1889. _Orcadella operculata_ Wingate, _Proc. Phil. Acad._, p. 280.
Sporangia scattered, gregarious, ellipsoidal, ovoid, obconical or nearly globose, dull brown or blackish, the wall simple, thick, coarse, at the top replaced by a delicate, thin, yellowish, iridescent, lustrous or vernicose membrane which forms a circular, smooth, or wrinkled lid, soon deciduous; stipe of varying height, rough from deposit of plasmodic refuse; spores, in mass yellowish, globose, smooth, 8-11 mu.
This curious little species, well described by its discoverer, appears to be very rare. At least it is seldom collected; overlooked by reason of its minuteness. It is a stipitate licea, or a lid-covered cribraria; perhaps nearer the former. It affects the bark of species of _Quercus_, and seems to be associated there with _Clastoderma debaryanum. N. A. F._, 2497.
Pennsylvania, Maine.
_C._ TUBIFERACEAE
Fructification aethalioid or of distinct sporangia; sporangia well defined, tubular, often prismatic by mutual pressure, seated on a common, well-marked hypothallus, at length dehiscent by the irregular rupture of the peridium, in typical cases at the apex, its walls remaining then otherwise entire; capillitial threads in No. 3, only.
=Key to the Genera of the Tubiferaceae=
_A._ Spores olivaceous; sporangia in one or several series, 1. LINDBLADIA
_B._ Spores umber; sporangia in a single series 2. TUBIFERA
_C._ Sporangia stipitate; capillitium of tubular threads 3. ALWISIA
=1. Lindbladia= _Fries_
1849. _Lindbladia_ Fries, _Sum. Veg. Scand._, p. 449.
Fructification aethalioid; the sporangia short, tubular, sometimes superimposed, sometimes forming a simple stratum, in the latter case generally sessile, but sometimes short-stipitate, the peridium at first entire, at length opening irregularly either at the sides or apex, beset with granules; spores olivaceous.
This genus was established by Fries in 1849 to accommodate a single species of wide distribution and somewhat varying habit, which is neither a tubifera nor yet a cribraria and offers points of resemblance to each. It is distinct in that the sporangia, while often in single series, are yet often superimposed. It resembles _Tubifera_ in its simple sporangia, opening without the aid of a net; it is like _Cribraria_ in the smooth ochraceous-olivaceous spores and granuliferous peridium.
1. LINDBLADIA EFFUSA (_Ehr._) _Rost._
PLATE I., Figs. 3, 3 _a_, PLATE XII., Figs. 1, 2.
1818. _Licea effusa_ Ehr., _Sylv. Myc. Ber._, p. 26. 1875. _Lindbladia effusa_ (Ehr.) Rost., _Mon._, p. 223. 1879. _Perichaena caespitosa_ Peck, _Rep. N. Y. Mus._, XXXI., p. 57.
Sporangia minute, either closely combined and superimposed, so as to form a pulvinate aethalium, or crowded together in a single layer, sessile, or short-stipitate; the peridia thin, membranous, marked by scattered plasmodic granules, often lustrous, sometimes dull lead-colored or blackish, especially above; stipe, when present, very short but distinct, brown, rugulose; hypothallus well developed, membranous, or more or less spongiose in structure; spore-mass ochraceous, under the lens, nearly smooth, almost colorless, 6-7.5 mu.
This very variable species has been well studied by Dr. Rex. See _Bot. Gaz._, XVII., p. 201. In its simpler phases it presents but a single layer of sporangia generally closely crowded together, sometimes free and even short stipitate! In the more complex phase the sporangia are heaped together in a pulvinate mass in which the peridia appear as boundaries of minute cells. In this case the outermost sporangia are often consolidated to form a cortex more or less dense and shining. In any case the hypothallus is a prominent feature; generally laminated and of two or three layers, it is in the more hemispheric aethalia very much more complex, sponge-like. When thin this structure is remarkable for its wide extent, 40-50 cm.! The simpler forms approach very near to _Cribraria_ through _C. argillacea_. The most complex remind us of _Enteridium_.
This is _Perichaena caespitosa_ Peck. In this country it has, however, been generally distributed as _L. effusa_ Ehr. This author throws some doubt on the species he describes by suggesting that the plasmodium may be _red_. The description, however, and figures are otherwise good and are established by the usage of Rostafinski. The plasmodium has much the same color as the mature fruit.
Widely distributed. New England to the Black Hills and Colorado, south to Arkansas. California, about Monterey.
=2. Tubifera= _Gmelin_
1791. _Tubifera_ Gmelin, _Syst. Nat._, II., p. 1472.
Sporangia tubular, by mutual pressure more or less prismatic, connate, pale ferruginous-brown, iridescent, the walls thin, slightly granular, long-persistent; dehiscence apical; hypothallus thick, spongiose, white or whitish; spore-mass ferruginous.
This genus is easily recognized by the tubular sporangia, destitute of capillitial threads, seated upon a strongly developed hypothallus. The synonymy of the case is somewhat difficult. It is possible that Mueller's _Tubulifera ceratum, Fl. Dan._, Ellevte Haefte, 1775, p. 8, may belong here, but neither the text nor the figures make it certain. Neither he nor OEder, who gives us _T. cremor_ in the same work, had any accurate idea of the objects described. Gmelin's description of _Tubifera_, II., 2, 1472, is, however, ample, and his citations of Bulliard's plates leave no doubt as to the forms he included. Gmelin writes: "Thecae (membranae expansae superimpositae) inter se connatae seminibus nudiusculis repletae."
Why, in face of so good a description, Persoon changed the name to that since current, _Tubulina_, is not clear.
Fries thinks Mueller had an immature _Arcyria_ before him, _Syst. Myc._, III., p. 196. _Tubulifera arachnoidea_ Jacq., 1778, is also an uncertain quantity, insufficiently described.
=Key to the Species of Tubifera=
_A._ Hypothallus well developed, but not conspicuous.
_a._ Pseudo-columellae none 1. _T. ferruginosa_
_b._ Pseudo-columellae present at least in many of the tubules 2. _T. casparyi_
_B._ Hypothallus prominent, columnar 3. _T. stipitata_
1. TUBIFERA FERRUGINOSA (_Batsch_) _Macbr._
PLATE I., Fig. 4; PLATE VII., Fig. 8; PLATE XII., Fig. 14.
1786. _Stemonitis ferruginosa_ Batsch, _Elench._, p. 261, Fig. 175. 1791. _Sphaerocarpus cylindricus_ Bull., _Champ._, p. 140, t. 470, III. 1791. _Tubifera ferruginosa_ Gmelin, _Syst. Nat._, 1472 (_ex parte_). 1805. _Tubulina cylindrica_ (Bull.) DC., _Fl. Fr._, 671. 1875. _Tubulina cylindrica_ (Bull.) Rost., _Mon._, p. 220. 1894. _Tubulina fragiformis_ (Pers.) Lister, _Mycetozoa_, p. 153.
Sporangia crowded, cylindric or prismatic, elongate, connate, more or less distinct above, pale umber-brown, generally simple though occasionally branched above, the peridia thin, sometimes fragile, but generally persistent, transparent, iridescent; hypothallus strongly developed, spongiose, white, often projecting beyond the aethalioid mass of sporangia; spore-mass umber-brown or ferruginous; spores by transmitted light almost colorless, plainly reticulate over three-fourths of the surface, 6-7 mu.
Not rare on old logs, mosses, etc., from Maine to Alaska. Apparently more common north than south. Easily known by its long, tubular sporangia packed with rusty spores and destitute of any trace of columella or capillitium, the hypothallus explanate, rather thick, but not columnar. A single plasmodium may give rise to one or several colonies, at first watery or white, then red, of somewhat varying shades, then finally umber-brown. These colors were noticed by all the older authors, but very inaccurately; thus a white plasmodium is the basis for _Tubifera cylindrica_ (Bull.) Gmel., a roseate plasmodium for _Tubifera fragiformis_ (Bull.) Gmel., and the mature fructification for _Tubifera ferruginosa_ (Batsch) Gmel. Rostafinski adopted a specific name given by Bulliard, but Batsch has clear priority.
The peridia are sometimes accuminate, and widely separate above. This is Persoon's _T. fragiformis_. In most cases, however, the peridia are connate throughout, and sometimes present above a membranous common covering. This is _T. fallax_ of Persoon; _Licea cylindrica_ (Bull.) Fries. In forms with thicker peridia, the walls often show the granular markings characteristic of the entire _Anemeae_.
2. TUBIFERA STIPITATA (_Berk. & Rav._) _Macbr._
1858. _Licea stipitata_ Berk. & Rav., _Am. Acad._, IV., p. 125.[39] 1868. _Licea stipitata_ Berk. & Rav., _Jour. Linn. Soc._, X., p. 350. 1875. _Tubulina stipitata_ (Berk. & Rav.) Rost., p. 223.
Sporangia crowded in a globose or more or less hemispheric, expanded head, borne upon a spongy, stem-like, sulcate hypothallus 3-4 mm. high, their apices rounded, their walls very thin, evanescent; spores in mass umber-brown, small, about 5 mu, the epispore reticulate as in the preceding species.
This differs from number 1 chiefly in the cushion-like receptacle on which the crowded sporangia are borne, and in the smaller spores. The species originates in a plasmodium at first colorless, then white, followed by salmon or buff tints, which pass gradually into the dark brown of maturity. This peculiar succession of colors is perhaps more diagnostic than the difference in habit. The spores are, however, constantly smaller in all the specimens we have examined, and the stipitate habit very marked.
New England, New York, south to South Carolina, and west to South Dakota; our finest specimens are from Missouri.
3. TUBIFERA CASPARYI (_Rost._) _Macbr._
PLATE XII., Fig. 9.
1876. _Siphoptychium casparyi_ Rost., _Mon. App._, p. 32.
Sporangia closely crowded, tubular, cylindric or prismatic by mutual pressure, connate, the apices rounded, convex, covered by a continuous membrane, umber-brown; the peridia firm, persistent, minutely granular, iridescent; hypothallus well developed, thin, brown, explanate; pseudo-columellae erect, rigid, traversing many of the sporangia, and in some instances bound back to the peridial walls by slender, membranous bands or threads, a pseudo-capillitium; spore-mass dark brown or umber, spores by transmitted light pale, globose, reticulate, 7.5-9 mu.
This is _Siphoptychium casparyi_ Rost. In _Bot. Gaz._, XV., p. 319, Dr. Rex shows that the relationships of the species are with _Tubifera_; that the so-called columella is probably an abortive sporangium, the so-called capillitial threads having no homology with the capillitial threads of the true columelliferous forms. It is a good species of _Tubifera_, nothing more. The tubules are shorter than in either of the preceding species; the spores are darker, larger, and more thoroughly reticulate.
The plasmodium is given by Dr. Rex, _l. c._, as white, then "dull gray tinged with sienna color," then various tones of sienna-brown, to the dark umber of the mature aethalium.
New York, Adirondack Mountains; Allamakee Co., Iowa.
=3. Alwisia= _Berk. & Br._
PLATE XIX., Figs. 5 and 5 _a_.
1873. _Alwisia_ Berk. & Br., _Jour. Linn. Soc._, Vol. XIV., p. 86.
Sporangia ellipsoidal, clustered, stipitate; dehiscence by the falling away of the upper part of the peridium disclosing a persisting pencil of capillitial threads. A single species:--
1. ALWISIA BOMBARDA _Berk. & Br._
1873. _Alwisia bombarda_ Berk. & Br., _Jour. Linn. Soc._, XIV., p. 86.
Sporangia gathered in clusters of four to eight, surmounting coalescent, or sometimes divergent stalks, rusty-brown, or pallid, the peridium evanescent above; the coalescing stalks forming, especially below, a clustered column, 2 mm. in height, equalling the sporangia, dull reddish-brown in color; capillitium of rigid, tubular, generally simple threads, attaching above by delicate tips, below by a broader sometimes branching base, sometimes conjoined near the peridial wall, now and then at irregular intervals inflated slightly or anon bulbose, roughened by projecting spinules, one-third the diameter, brownish or yellow; spores reddish-brown, faintly marked by reticulating bands over large part of the surface, 5-5.5 mu.
This peculiar species looks at first very little like a myxomycete. The stiff projecting hairs of the capillitium are hyphal in appearance and under the lens recall the phycomycetes; but the spores and withal the general structure seem to claim recognition here. Rostafinski was inclined to make a trichia of it, because of the hair-like capillitium, and markings on the threads, Massee found indistinct spiral markings even, enough to suit at least the prototrichias. Mr. Lister would put it near the tubifers. Father Torrend thinks of the dianemas, margaritas, etc., because of simple capillitium attached above and below! Spore-characters are probably the index most reliable, and the partial reticulation suggests association with _Tubifera_ and for the present it may find station there, as in the English monograph.
Rare. Collected three times: twice in Ceylon, once in Jamaica. By the courtesy of Dr. Farlow, late lamented, we record the western specimens.
_D._ RETICULARIACEAE
Fructification aethalioid; the sporangia sometimes poorly defined, intricately associated, borne on a common hypothallus and covered above by a common cortex; the lateral walls variously perforate and incomplete, form a pseudo-capillitium; spores umber or ochraceous.
=Key to the Genera of the Reticulariaceae=
_A._ Spores umber.
_a._ Sporangia wholly indeterminate, their walls much consolidated below, fraying out above into long, slender threads, 1. RETICULARIA
_b._ Sporangia bounded, more or less distinctly, by broad perforate plates throughout 2. ENTERIDIUM
_B._ Spores ochraceous 3. DICTYDIAETHALIUM
=1. Reticularia= (_Bull._) _Rost._
1791. _Reticularia_ Bulliard, _Champ. de la France_, p. 95, in part. 1873. _Reticularia_ (Bulliard) Rost., _Versuch_, p. 6.
Plasmodium at first white, then pink, 'ashes of roses,' etc. Sporangia wholly indeterminate or undefined, their walls represented (?) by a spongy mass of so-called capillitium, consisting of membranous plates, branching, anastomosing, vanishing without order or symmetry, generally giving rise at the sides, and especially above, to long slender flexuous threads; outer cortex silvery white; hypothallus distinct, white; spore-mass and threads umber or rusty brown.
A single species,--
1. RETICULARIA LYCOPERDON (_Bull._) _Rost._
PLATE X., Figs. 7, 7 _a_; PLATE XII., Fig. 3.
1791. _Reticularia lycoperdon_ Bull., _Champ. de la France_, p. 95.
Aethalium pulvinate, 2-8 cm. broad, at first silvery white, later less lustrous, the cortex irregularly and slowly deciduous; hypothallus at first conspicuous as a white margin extending round the entire aethalium, evanescent without, but persisting as a firm membrane beneath the spore-mass, pseudo-capillitium abundant, tending to form erect central masses which persist long after the greater part of the fruit has been scattered by the winds; spore-mass umber, spores by transmitted light pale, reticulate over about two-thirds of the surface, the remainder slightly warted, 8-9 mu.
Not common. Often confused with the following, the spores of the two forms being very much alike; the internal structure, entirely different, and once compared, the two are thereafter easily distinguished at sight by external characters. The sporangial make-up is indifferent, confused. It represents a phase in development whence might issue columellae with capillitium-branches or distinct tubular sporangia with persisting walls; or are such structures here but reminiscent only? Compare _Amaurochaete atra_, where similar conditions prevail. There differentiation goes on to the formation of a structure of which _Stemonitis_ is type; here the sporangium-wall becomes dominant; suffers modification for spore-disposal, an idea reaching fair expression in _Cribraria_ and _Dictydium_.
The plasmodium is white, noted Bulliard. Fries cites with approval the words of Schweinitz,--"color corticis ab initio argenteus sericeo nitore insignis; sed deinde sordescit e griseo in subfuscum vergens." Sometimes the surface does indeed shine as silver!
The fructification appears to be isolated in each case; the entire plasmodium consumed in a single plasmodiocarp.
Widely distributed. Maine to California, and south.
=2. Enteridium= _Ehrenberg_
1818. _Enteridium_ Ehrenberg, Link and Spreng., _Jahrb., Bd._ II., p. 55.
Fructification aethalioid; the confluent sporangia inextricably interwoven, the walls perforate by large openings, the resultant network of broad plates and bands widening at the points of intersection.
The genus _Enteridium_ is distinguished from _Reticularia_ chiefly by the more perfectly developed sporangial walls. These are everywhere membranous and do not show the abundant filiform dissipation so characteristic of _Reticularia_. The resultant structure in _Reticularia_ is a mass of more or less lengthened and anastomosing threads; in _Enteridium_, an exceedingly delicate but sufficiently persistent sponge. The "net-like, three-winged skeleton" referred to by Rostafinski results from the union at one point of three adjoining sporangia. Compare the section of the adjoining cells of a honeycomb.
Of this genus there are but two or three species, all so far occurring in our territory.
=Key to the Species of Enteridium=
_A._ Fructification umber brown 1. _E. splendens_
_B._ Fructification olivaceous 2. _E. olivaceum_
_C._ Fructification minute, 1-2 mm. 3. _E. minutum_
1. ENTERIDIUM SPLENDENS _Morg._
PLATE I., Figs. 1, 1 _a_, 1 _b_; PLATE XII., Figs. 4, 5.
1876. _Reticularia_ (?) _rozeanum_ Rost., _Mon. App._, p. 33. 1889. _Enteridium rozeanum_ (Rost.) Wing., _Proc. Phil. Acad._, p. 156. 1892. _Enteridium rozeanum_ Wingate, Macbr., _Bull. Lab. Nat. Hist. Iowa_, II., p. 117. 1893. _Reticularia splendens_ Morg., _Jour. Cin. Soc._, p. 11. 1899. _Enteridium splendens_ Morg., Morg. _in litt._
Aethalium pulvinate, even, or somewhat irregular, unevenly swollen or inflated, lobate or compound, covered by an exceedingly thin, generally smooth, shining, but never white, pellicle or cortex, brown, from 1-6 cm. in diameter; hypothallus white, often wide extending; capillitium none; the sporangial walls thin and brown forming a network as above described; spore-mass umber, spores by transmitted light pale, about two-thirds of the surface reticulate, the rest nearly smooth, 7-9 mu.
Very common, especially west, on decaying logs and stumps of every description. Easily distinguished by its brown color and smooth, shining, though uneven surface. The plasmodium as it emerges to form fruit is pale pink or flesh color, slowly deepening to brown as maturity advances. The first emergence is a watery white.
New England, Canada, to Minnesota and Nebraska, South Dakota.
In 1876 Rostafinski provisionally referred to the genus _Reticularia_ certain specimens received from M. Roze of Paris. Thirteen years later in correspondence with M. Roze, Mr. Wingate satisfied himself that the specimens discovered by Roze were the same as our common enteridium. He therefore, _l. c._, applied to our American forms the name they have widely borne, _E. rozeanum_. Mr. Lister, _Jour. of Botany_, Sept. '91, applied the Rostafinskian name to certain English specimens. Thereafter to be known as _Reticularia lobata_ Rost. and so fixed the status of that species. From all the literature before us it appears that Mr. Lister was right. _R. lobata_ List. (now _Liceopsis lobata_ List.) Torr., occurs in various parts of Europe, while our American species of _Enteridium_ is yet to be discovered on that side of the sea!
Were the latter native to the old world at all, it had surely been seen long ago. It is large and fine, and could not have escaped the famous collectors of the last two hundred years. Although it has been sent by students from this side of the ocean to Europe for more than thirty years, it has not even adventitiously appeared.
It therefore appears that our American species is known to Europe through Mr. Wingate's reference only.
Twenty years ago in correspondence with Mr. Wingate it was learned that the material received by him from M. Roze was but a small fragment, crushed flat, and even this was at that time no longer in evidence. This specimen was itself _not part of the gathering submitted to Rostafinski_; but only the fragment of something _appearing in 1890 in the same locality_!
... "something not the same, But only like its forecast in men's dreams."
When we further reflect that the spores of species of several of the forms now in review, _Tubifera_, _Reticularia_, _Enteridium_, are not without difficulty distinguished, it is easy to see that Mr. Wingate's specific reference has narrow foundations to say the least. It seems now likely that Father Torrend's _Liceopsis_, _Reticulara lobata_ R., M. Roze's aftermath, and all, are but the depauperate forms of some tubifera!
_E. rozeanum Wing._, is therefore the synonym for an ill-defined something in Western Europe and need not further here concern us as far material reference goes.
In any case, what induced Mr. Wingate to pull Rostafinski's uncertain description of a problematic form across the sea, to attach it to our clearly defined and well known American species, changing the Polish description the while to make it fit, is hard to understand; especially in view of the fact, by Wingate admitted, that Rex had in his letters to Morgan already named the American type _Enteridium umbrinum_. The two students differed as to generic reference, and later on Morgan published _Reticularia splendens_ Morg.; rather than _R. umbrina_ (Rex) Morg. because he was using _R. umbrina_ Fr. for what is generally known as _R. lycoperdon_ (_Bull._)
It would then appear that when Wingate sought to impose the Rostafinskian specific name upon our American form by changing (fixing!) Rostafinski's generic reference, and by re-writing the specific description from the pages of the _Monograph_ in order to claim identity, he was entirely without justification, especially since he knew the species appropriately named by his colleague, Dr. Rex, and had the name as used in the Rex and Morgan correspondence.
In brief; Mr. Wingate proceeded to re-describe Rostafinski's rozean specimen and referred a long-known American form (very different) to the European specimen as type. Wingate's description is right; he had the American material before him; but his cited type is worthless, an entirely different thing.
Does the reader care to see what the European _type_ of our common form, Wingate _teste_, really looks like, let him consult the _Jour. of Botany_, Vol. XXIX., p. 263, 1891.
2. ENTERIDIUM OLIVACEUM _Ehr._
1818. _Enteridium olivaceum_ Ehr.
Aethalium depressed flat, oval or elongate, .3 cm. in extent, .6 mm. thick when fresh, glossy, smooth, greenish-olivaceous-brown; within a spongy net-work representing sporangial walls which are thin, pale olivaceous, perforate by circular openings, meshes surrounded by wide plates; spores in clusters, six or more together, ovoid, distinctly warted at the wider end, pale olivaceous, 9-11 mu.
This, the type of the genus, is a very distinct species of this by its structure readily distinguished form. Fries thought the species might represent a less perfectly-developed reticularia, and therefore wrote _Reticularia olivacea_ noting, however, the clustered spores and the lack of hypothallus.
Common, as would appear, in Europe and in S. America; rare with us. Reported from N. Hampshire and we have one specimen from Colorado.
3. ENTERIDIUM MINUTUM _Sturg._
1917. _Enteridium minutum_ Sturg., _Mycologia_, IX, p. 328.
Aethalia rounded or elongate, pulvinate, pale umber in color, seated on a broad membranous base, 1.5-2 mm. in diameter; wall wrinkled and usually marked with small scattered pits, pale-yellow, membranous; walls of component sporangia, membranous, minutely roughened, perforated with round openings, the margins of which show many free threads; or reduced to irregular, anastomosing strands arising from the base of the aethalium, with membranous or net-like expansions at the angles and with many delicate, free, pointed ends. Spores pale-yellow, usually united in twos or threes, and ovoid or flattened on one side; when free, globose, very minutely spinulose, 9.5-10.5.
Colorado: _Dr. Sturgis._
=3. Dictydiaethalium= _Rostafinski_
1873. _Dictydiaethalium_ Rost., _Versuch_, p. 5. 1875. _Clathroptychium_ Rost., _Mon._, p. 224.
Aethalium depressed, flat; the sporangia erect, regular, prismatic by mutual pressure, the peridia convex above, wanting at the sides and within the aethalium represented by vertical threads marking the angles and passing from base to summit.
This genus is readily recognized by the internal structure of the aethalium. The lateral wall-openings, which, as we have seen, characterize the sporangia of the preceding genus, here become extreme, occupying to such extent the lateral wall-space of each sporangium that only threads remain to mark the vertical angles.
In 1873 Rostafinski applied the generic name here adopted, because he thought he discovered close relationships with _Dictydium_. In 1875, believing his first impressions erroneous, and desirous that the nomenclature might not at once mislead the student and perpetuate the memory of his own mistake, the same author proposed the name by which the genus has generally ever since been known--_Clathroptychium_. However sensible the latter conclusion reached by our Polish author, it is plainly contrary to all rules of priority.
Our region shows but a single widely distributed species,--
1. DICTYDIAETHALIUM PLUMBEUM (_Schum._) _Rost._
PLATE I., Figs. 2, 2 _a_, 2 _b_.
1803. _Fuligo plumbea_ Schum., _Enum. Saell._, No. 1410. 1833. _Licea rugulosa_ Wall., _Cr. Fl. Ger._, IV., p. 345. 1873. _Dictydiaethalium plumbeum_ (Schum.) Rost., _Versuch_, p. 5. 1875. _Clathroptychium rugulosum_ (Wallr.) Rost., _Mon._, p. 225. 1894. _Dictydiaethalium plumbeum_ Rost., List., _Mycetozoa_, p. 157.
Aethalium thin, very flat, olivaceous or ochraceous, smooth, under the lens punctate, in section showing the columnar or prismatic sporangia, which are normally six-sided, having at the edges six simple threads, the remains of peridium, extending from base to apex, where the peridium remains intact, arcuate; hypothallus prominent, radiating far around the aethalium, silvery white; spores in mass, ochraceous, or dull brownish yellow, by transmitted light almost colorless, rough 9-10 mu.
Not rare, on decaying logs, especially of _Tilla americana_, where in the same place successive fructifications follow each other sometimes for weeks together in the latter part of summer and early fall. The aethalium is generally elliptical or elongate, 2-3 cm. in extent, sometimes irregular or branched, varying in color according to degree of maturity, weathering, etc. Plasmodium at first watery, then pink, or flesh-colored.
Eastern United States; common. Toronto;--_Miss Currie._
_E._ CRIBRARIACEAE
Sporangia distinct, more or less closely gregarious, stipitate, the peridium opening, especially above, by a well-defined network formed from thickenings in the original sporangial wall.
=Key to the Genera of the Cribrariaceae=
_A._ Peridial thickenings in form of an apical net with definite thickenings at the intersections of the component threads 1. CRIBRARIA
_B._ Peridial thickenings in form of parallel meridional ribs connected by delicate transverse threads 2. DICTYDIUM
=Cribraria= (_Pers_) _Schrader._
1794. _Cribraria_ Persoon, Roemer, _N. Bot. Mag._, I., p. 91, in part. 1797. _Cribraria_ Schrader, _Nov. Gen. Plant._, p. 1, in part. 1875. _Cribraria_ Rostafinski, _Mon._, p. 229.
Sporangia distinct, gregarious or closely crowded, globose or obovoid, stipitate; the stipe of very varying length; the peridium simple, marked within by distinct and peculiar, granular, thickenings, which below take the form of radiating ribs, supporting the persisting cup, _calyculus_, and above, by extremely delicate anastomosing branches, unite to weave a more or less regular net with open polygonal meshes; spores various, more often yellowish or ochraceous, sometimes brown, reddish, or purple.
The genus _Cribraria_, as limited by Persoon, included all forms in which the peridium is thin, evanescent half-way down, or entirely, and in which capillitium, as Persoon regarded the case, is formed of a network of reticulate threads surrounding the spores. Schrader redefined the genus; opposed Persoon's view as to the capillitial nature of the net, and separated the genus _Dictydium_, but by imperfect limitations,--in fact, chiefly because of the more completely evanescent peridium. Fries follows Schrader. Rostafinski first clearly separated the two genera, and his classification is here adopted. Nevertheless, after reviewing the subject entire one is more and more inclined to appreciate the commendation of Fries; "Auctor Schrader, qui insuper plurimas species detexit, et hoc et sequens genus ita proposuit ut sequentes vix aliquid addere valuerint."
As to the habitat of the cribrarias, the remark of Schrader is still pertinent--"in vetustissimis plenariae destructionis proximis arborum truncis"--for all the species. Rotten, coniferous wood seems to be preferred, but the decayed logs of trees of other orders are by no means refused. Rotten oak forms a very common habitat.
=Key to the Species of Cribraria=
_A._ Sporangia with spores ochraceous or brownish.
_a._ Sporangia larger, .5 mm. or more.
1. Net poorly developed, sometimes merely indicated 1. _C. argillacea_
2. Net conspicuous, nodes expanded, not swollen.