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h'.î;
HI f. faseiculatmii. Three to five sporangia confluent, supported
on a common stem.
On wood, leaves, moss, &c. Cuba; N. Zealand; Ceylon.
Remarkable for the circular, sharply limited hypothallus
witb prominent, regularly radiating ribs, resembling tlie hyménium
of a small agaric. Resembling superficially some forms
of Didymium squamulosum, var. eostatum.
Didymium clavus, Rost. (figs. 53, 54).
Sporangia very much depressed, slightly convex above, plane
below, lime sprinkled in fine crystals on the surface of the dark
membrane ; stem short, Uaelish-broton, more or less longitudinally
rugulose; columella absent; mass of spores blackish ; threads of
capillitium 3—4 g thick at base, slightly tapering, sparingly
forked at acute angles, and sometimes laterally connected and
furnished with small o'ing-like dark-eolemred thichenings, pale
brown to dirty violet; spores globose, smooth, dingy lilac, 0 8 g
diameter.
Didymium claims, Rost., Mon., p. 153; Cooke, Hdbk., p. 30;
Raunk., p. 87 ; Schroeter, p. 121; Sacc., Syll., 1299.
On twigs, leaves, &c. Britain (Weybridge, Kew, Orton Wood,
Leicester; Epping Forest, Forden, Litilithgow); France; Belgium
; Germany; United States; Canada ; Egypt; Ceylon.
Sporangia scattered, 1—1'5 mm. across when circular, sometimes
irregular and larger. Remarkable for tbe much flattened,
pileus-shaped sporangia.
V i (Rostafinski’s Synonyms.)
Beticularia hemispherica. Bull., t. 446, f 2 (1791).
Physarum clavus, A. and S., t. 2, f. 2 (1805).
Didymium melanopus, ¡3. clavus, Fr., S. M., iii., 114 (1829);
B. and Br., Ann. N. H., No. 110; Cooke, Hdbk., No. 1118, ¡3.
Didymium hemispherieum, Wallr., FL Germ., 2192 (1833).
Didymium clavus, Rabh., FL Crypt., 2282 (1844),
Didymium clavus, Berk,, Eng. FL, v., p. 314.
Didymium neglectum, Mass. (nov. sp.); (fig. 207).
Sporangia globose or slightly depressed, flattened or sometimes
slightly umbilicate below, stipitate ; wall single, at first
witb a continuous, rugose, white crust of lime, which at maturity
becomes broken up into minute, persistent particles; stem
equal to or longer than height of sporangium, erect, slightly
attenuated upwards, blach, longitudinally wrinkled, expanding
at tbe base into a small hypothallus; columella circular in
outline, much depressed, placentifm-m, witb a distinct margin,
covering the base of tbe sporangium, rugulose, pale hrownish-
lilae, capillitium dense, threads radiating from the columella,
lilac-brown, becoming colourless towards the tips, bifurcating,
now and then anasmosing laterally; spores globose, smooth,
7—9 g diameter.
On wood. Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, U. S.
Solitary or in scattered clusters of 2—6 specimens, about
1 mm. high; superficially resembling Didymium farinaceum,
bnt quite distinct in the smooth spores, which only show vague
ind-ioations of roughness when magnified 1200 diameters. The
columella is very characteristic, being broad and flattened witb
a distinct margin; at maturity the sporangium falls away
except a minute frill round the lower edge of tbe columella,
which, -vvith the stem, in this condition resembles a little table.
The original specimens wero found mixed with specimens of
Tilmadoche oblonga, communicated by Mr, Harold Wingate, of
Philadelphia.
I 1
i
Didymium Barteri, Mass. (n. sp.).
Gregarious; sporangia spherico-depressed, slightly umbilicate
below, stipitate, cretaceous layer pure white, rugulose, for a long
time persistent, then breaking away in small granules; stem
elongated, slender, attenuated upwards, pure white, strongly
wrinkled longitudinally ; columella small, globose, white ; mass
of spores blackish-purple ; capillitium copious, threads about
2 g thick, equal, sometimes flexuous, forked at an acute angle