the wall
with bronze, blue, purple, and violet tints, gradually falling away.
Stipe short, thick, white, arising from a white, venulose, hypothallus,
tapering upward; the columella cylindric or slightly tapering, obtuse,
terminating below the apex of the sporangium. Capillitium of slender,
flexuous brown threads forming a dense network of rather small meshes.
Spores globose, very minutely warted, violaceous, 7-9 mic. in diameter.

Growing on old leaves, sticks, etc., and sometimes running over living
plants. Sporangium with the stipe 1-2 mm. in height, the stipe usually
much shorter than the sporangium, the latter .4-.5 mm. in thickness.
_Diachaea elegans_, Fr.

2. DIACHAEA SPLENDENS, Peck. Sporangia globose, sometimes a little
depressed, with the base umbilicate; the wall steel-blue with tints of
purple and violet, quite persistent, rupturing irregularly. Stipe short,
thick, white, arising from a white, reticulate hypothallus, tapering
upward; the columella oblong or short cylindric, extending beyond the
center of the sporangium. Capillitium of slender, brown threads, which
branch several times and form a loose network of rather large meshes.
Spores subglobose, with very large warts, dark violet, 8-10 mic. in
diameter.

Growing on old leaves and twigs. Sporangium .4-.6 mm. in diameter, the
stipe about the same length. This is a beautiful species.

3. DIACHAEA THOMASII, Rex. Sporangia globose, or sometimes a little
depressed; the wall gold-bronze, with tints of purple and blue,
subpersistent, rupturing irregularly. Stipe thick, dull ochre-yellow in
color, variable in length, usually very short and sometimes quite
obsolete, arising from an ochre-yellow hypothallus; the columella
varying from bluntly-conical to cylindric-clavate, attaining the center
of the sporangium. Capillitium of slender, brown threads, radiating from
all points of the columella, branching several times and forming a loose
network of elongated meshes. Spores globose, minutely warted,
violaceous, 11-12 mic. in diameter. See Plate XI, Fig. 36.

Growing on sticks, leaves, etc. Sporangium .5-.7 mm. in diameter, the
stipe usually shorter or sometimes wanting. This species has been found
only in the mountains of North Carolina. I am indebted to Dr. George A.
Rex for my example. In its structure the species is essentially a
Lamproderma, but the stipe and columella are stuffed with granules of
lime.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI.

Fig. 25.--Sectional v