rum variabile_ Rex.

3. LEOCARPUS BRUNNEOLUS, Phillips. Sporangium large, globose or somewhat
depressed, sessile; the wall a thick yellow-brown membrane, the outer
surface naked, smooth, and polished, with a dense white inner layer of
granules of lime, dehiscing in a stellate manner, the segments becoming
reflexed. Capillitium of tubules forming a dense net-work, with wide
expansions at the angles; the nodules of lime very large, numerous,
white, angular and irregular. Spores globose, minutely warted, dark
violaceous, 8-10 mic. in diameter.

Growing on bark of oak, California (_Harkness._) Sporangium nearly 1 mm.
in diameter. _Diderma brunneolum_ Phillips. I have taken the description
from Massee's monograph.

4. LEOCARPUS FRAGILIS, Dicks. Sporangium very large, obovoid-oblong,
stipitate or subsessile; the wall a greatly thickened membrane, polished
and shining within and without, from alutaceous or pale umber to
dark-brown in color, destitute of lime. Stipe short, weak, and slender,
arising from a thin hypothallus. Capillitium of slender tubules forming
a loose network of large irregular meshes, with slight expansions at the
angles; the lime white, variable in amount, sometimes quite scanty, then
again filling large portions of the net-work with long-branched and
reticulate masses. Spores subglobose, dark violaceous, opaque, 12-15
mic. in diameter.

Growing gregariously on old wood, leaves, mosses, etc. Sporangium 1.5-2
mm. in length by 1 mm. in thickness, the stipe variable in length, but
usually much shorter than the sporangium. _Diderma vernicosum_ Pers.

IV. PHYSARELLA, Peck. Sporangium oblong, stipitate; the apex re-entrant
and confluent with the hollow columella; the wall a thin membrane
covered with small scales and minute granules of lime, at maturity torn
away at the apex and stellately splitting into a few segments. Stipe
elongated, tapering upward, entering the sporangium and prolonged to the
apex as a tubaeform columella. Capillitium distinguished by two distinct
sets of tubules; the first consisting of long, thick tubules filled with
lime, rising at regular intervals from the wall of the sporangium and
extending to the columella; the second, of very slender threads,
scarcely branched, and nearly destitute of lime, stretching between the
wall and the columella. Spores globose, violaceous.

A genus founded upon the one remarkable species, and more distinct than
any other from the typical genus of the