The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio Part 16

8. BADHAMIA LILACINA, Fr. Sporangia globose or obovoid, sessile or rarely substipitate, closely crowded together on a thin, brownish hypothallus; the wall a firm, hyaline membrane, with a thick, smooth, continuous outer-layer of lime, varying in color from gray-white or drab to lilac and flesh color. Capillitium of very thick tubules, forming a dense net-work of small meshes; the tubules stuffed with granules of lime, which are white or colored somewhat as those in the wall, often confluent in the center of the sporangium. Spores globose, minutely warted, dark violaceous, 11-14 mic. in diameter.

Growing on wood, leaves, mosses, etc. Sporangium .5-.7 mm. in diameter.

The outer crustaceous layer of lime on the wall crumbles and falls away, as in some species of _Diderma_. The white form is _Diderma concinnum_ B. & C.; the lilac or flesh-colored form is _Physarum lilacinum_ of Fries, S. M., p. 141. I have seen it colored only white and drab. Under a high magnifying power the sculpturing of the spores is seen to be peculiar.

X. SCYPHIUM, Rost. Sporangium obovoid to oblong-obovoid, stipitate or subsessile; the wall a thickened, brownish membrane, the surface entirely naked or only the upper portion covered with granules of lime, breaking up irregularly about the apex. Stipe variable in length, arising from a common hypothallus and prolonged within the sporangium as a columella. Capillitium of thick tubules, proceeding from numerous points of the columella and forming a dense network; the tubules filled with lime throughout their whole extent. Spores large, subglobose, dark reddish-brown.

This genus differs from _Badhamia_ by the columella which gives origin to the capillitium. The sporangia in the species composing it, resemble those of _Craterium_, and to this genus they are referred by Ma.s.see, but the capillitium is that of _Badhamia_.

1. SCYPHIUM RUBIGINOSUM, Chev. Sporangia gregarious, obovoid, stipitate; the wall a thickened reddish-brown membrane, the upper part covered by a thin layer of white granules of lime, the lower basal portion naked, strongly venulose and more persistent. Stipe long, erect, reddish-brown, expanding at the base into a brown hypothallus, prolonged within the sporangium to more than half its height as a columella. Capillitium of thick tubules, forming a dense net-work of small meshes; the tubules stuffed with white granules of lime. Spores irregularly globose, minutely warted, dark reddish-brown, 12-15 mic. in diameter.

Growing on old wood, mosses, etc. Sporangia .6-.8 mm. in height by .5-.6 mm. in diameter, the stipe from once to twice the height of the sporangium. This is _Physarum rubiginosum_ Chevallier, _Flor de Paris_.

It is also _Craterium obovatum_ Peck.

2. SCYPHIUM CURTISII, Berk. Sporangia oblong-obovoid, stipitate or subsessile, usually growing in cl.u.s.ters; the wall a thick, firm, reddish-brown membrane, venulose and reticulate, nearly dest.i.tute of lime. Stipes variable, commonly very short, sometimes confluent, arising from a brown hypothallus, prolonged within the sporangium to about half its height. Capillitium of thick tubules, forming a dense network of small meshes; the tubules stuffed with white granules of lime. Spores irregularly globose, minutely warted, dark reddish-brown, 12-15 mic. in diameter.

Growing on old wood, leaves, gra.s.s, etc. Sporangium .4-.7 mm. in height by .3-.4 mm. in diameter, the stipe often reduced to a mere point or cus.h.i.+on on the hypothallus, and varying thence to nearly the length of the sporangium. The sporangium is narrower than in the preceding species, and the brown wall is usually without granules of lime. It is _Didymium curtisii_, Berk. Rostafinski and Ma.s.see both preserve it distinct from _S. rubiginosum_. See Plate XV. Fig. 73.