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Eostafinskia, Speg., Fuug. Arg.. Pug. Ill,, p. 27; Saoc., Syll,
vii., 1, p. 403 (not of Raciborski).
I am not acquainted with the single species constituting the
present genus which appears to be exceptional in the septate
tubes of the capillitium, &c.
Distrib. Argentine Republic. Species I.
Eostafinskia australis, Speg.
Aethalia variable in form, thickly pulvinate—effused; ecorticate,
surface softly velvety-tomentose, at first with a longish cottony
tomentum, then breaking up into powdery filaments, purple-
violet or bright reddish-violet; capillitium tubes of the intermediate
stratum cylindrical, 3—4 g thick, branched, not septate,
everywhere rough with minute warts, hyaline or tinged violet,
tubes of inferior sterile stratum cylindrical septate, nodulosely
branched, 5— 6 g thick, smooth, brownish; spores globose,
ovoid or irregular, filled with granular protoplasm, smooth,
bright lilac, 8—10 x 5— 6 g.
Eostafinskia australis, Speg., Fung. Arg., Pug. III., n. 59;
Sacc., Syll., vii., 1, n. 1381.
On rotten trunks, sawdust, &o. Everywhere very common.
Argentine Republic.
R eticulaeia, Bull.
Aethalia composed of numerous elongated, naked sporangia,
arranged in strata and covered with a thin, common cortex;
capillitium consisting of several columella-like, slender, thin-
walled tubes, that give off several lateral branches which
anastomose to foz’m an irregular network.
Beticularia, Bulliard, Hist. Champ., Rost., Mon., p. 240;
Cke., Myx. Brit., p. 60; Sacc., Syll., vii., p. 418.
In the present genus numerous naked, elongated sporangia,
arranged m a few superposed layers or strata, are covered with
an external cortex. Each sporangium has its own long columella,
which gives off lateral branches that anastomose to form
au iricgular network, the branches of contiguous sporangia also
anastomose. The structure of the entire body may be compared
with the dense clusters of sporangia in Stemonitis, differing in
the irregularity of the sporangia and absence of sporangial walls.
Enteridium Bozeanum bears a close resemblance to the present
genus, hut there the capillitium is formed from the walls of
the component sporangia. Several exotic species placed by
Berkeley in Beticularia belong to the genus Chromosporium.
Distrib. Europe and N. America. Species 3.
Eeticularia lycoperdon, Eost. (figs. 311, 312).
Aethalium large, pulvinate, completely surrounded by a
delicate cortex which varies from dull umber, through reddish-
brOwn, to pale grey with a silvery lustre; sometimes rough with
irregular, yellowish, minute warts; threads of the capillitium
springing from the base, consisting of erect, columella-like
portions with slender, anastomosing branches; spores in the
mass varying from umber to chestnut-colour, globose, about one-
half the surface of the spore covered with a regular network of
raised lines, the remainder smooth, 7—9 g diameter.
Beticularia lycoperdon, Rost., Mon,, p. 240, figs. 3, 4, 6, 13;
Cke., Myx'. Brit., p. 60. figs. 3, 4, 6. 13; Saco., Syll., vii., n. 1424.
Exsicc.—Fuckel, Fung. Rhen., n. 2583.
On wood, bark, &c. Britain (Bristol, Kew, Eoclesfield,
Scarboro’, Carlisle, Coed Coch, Linlithgow); Europe; United
States.
Forming lumps varying from 1—3 inches across, more or less
circular or elongated, sometimes compressed, at others pulvinate,
and 1 in. or more high. Care must be taken not to confound
small specimens of the present species with Lycogala epidendmm,
which differs in the thick capillitium threads with ornamented
walls.
(Rostafinski’s Synonyms.)
Tyyeogala griseum major, Mich., t. 95, f 1 (1729).
Jjyeoperdon fuscum, Huds. FL Aug., 645 (1778).
Hucor lycogalus, Bott., t. 133, f. 2 (1789).
Beticularia lycoperdon, Bull., t. 446, f. 4, t. 476, f. 1—3 (1791).