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Stemonitis Friesiana, De Bary.
Scattered or gregarious; sporangia globose or shortly elliptical,
wall very thin, disappearing, whitish with a silvery sheen or
purple black; stem black, shining, elongated, tapering upioards,
expanding at the base into a small, circular, irregularly ribbed
or latticed hypothallus; columella reaching about two-thirds the
height of the sporangium, then breaking up into several branches,
threads of capillitium dark brown, arcuate, forming a dense
net; spores in the mass blackish, violet-brown by transmitted
light, globose, smooth, 8—10 g diameter.
Stemonitis Friesiana, De Bary, in Bab. F. Eng., n. 568.
Gomatricha Friesiana, Eost., Mon., p. 199, figs. 51 and 56 ;
Cke., Myx. Brit., p. 48, figs. 51 and 56 ; Sacc., Syll., vii., 1356.
Exsicc.—Fuckel, Fung. Ehen., n. 1446 (as Stemonitis ovata).
On wood, branches, leaves, &c.
Britain (Lyndhurst, Kew, Hereford, York, Carlisle, Aboyne,
N. B.) ; Europe ; U. States ; Ceylon ; Tasmania.
From 3—5 mm. high. The threads of the capillitium are
of nearly equal thickness throughout, and sometimes studded
with amorphous lumps of organic matter. Distinguished by
the long, tapering stem, and small globose, or shortly ovate
sporangium.
(Rostafinski’s Synonyms.)
Mucor embolus, Linn. Sp., 1185 (1753).
Lycogala, Hall, 2146? (1768).
Stemonitis retietilata, Trent, p. 223? (1797).
Stemonitis nigra, Pers., Gmel. Sys., 1467 (1791).
Stemonitis atrofusea, Pers., Disp., 11 (1797).
Stemonitis atrofusea, /3 nigra, Pers., Disp., 54 (1797).
Stemonitis ovata, Pers., Syn., 189 (1801); Berk., Eng. El., v.,
p. 317; Cooke, Hdbk., no. 1158.
Trichia muem’iformis, Schum., Saell., 1469 (1803).
Stemonitis violaeea, Schum., Saell., 1491 (1803).
Stemonitis nigra, Schum., Saell, 1403 (1803).
Stemonitis globosa, Schum., Saell, 1494 (1803).
Trichia alba. Sow., t. 259 (1818).
Stemonitis obtusata, Fr. Sym. Gast., 17 (1818); Eng. FI, v.,
p. 317; Cooke, Hdbk., no. 1159.
Gomatricha obtusata, Preuss., Sturm. (1851).
Gomatricha alba, Preuss. in Sturm (1861).
Stemonitis Friesiana, De Bary (1870); Rabh., Fung, Eur.,
no. 568.
§ § § Spcn-es reticulated.
Stemonitis longa, Mass.
Sporangia gregarious, slender, cylindrical, straight, or usually
flexuous, very long; wall evanescent; stem filiform, slender,
rather short, blackish; columella, capillitium, and mass of spores
brownish-violet; columella extending nearly to apex of sporangium,
tapering upwards; capillitium springing from the columella
at numerous points throughout its length, main branches
soon branching, axils usually rounded, often occupied for some
distance by a thin membrane, sometimes connected laterally,
branches towards the periphery much branched in a penicillate
manner, tips fre e ; spores globose, epispore very minutely reticulated,
7—8 g diameter.
Gomatricha longa. Peck, 43rd Report of New York State
Mus., p. 24, pi. 3, f. 1—5.
On wood, bark, &c. United States.
Fasciculate, capillitium often curved or twisted after the wall
has disappeared, 3—6 cm. long.
Stemonitis dictyospora, Eost. (fig. 112).
Sporangia gregarious, cylindrical, both ends obtuse, wall
silvery, soon disappearing, stem shorter than sporangium, rather
thick, equal black, springing from a well-developed hypothallus;
columella reaching nearly to apex of sporangium, capillitium
dense, threads like the columella blackish, combined to form
a network having the peripheral meshes not larger than the
diameter of the spores; spores in the mass blackish-violet, globose,
epispore with thin ridges forming a polygonal netioork, 12—15 g
diameter.