Not uncommon. Maine, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska.
2. Arcyria (Hill) Pers.
- 1751. Arcyria Sir John Hill, Gen. Nat. Hist., II., p. 47.
- 1801. Arcyria Pers., Syn. Fung., p. 182.
Sporangia ovoid or cylindric or even globose, stipitate; the peridium thin, evanescent to near the base, the lower part persisting as a calyculus; the stipe variable, packed with free cell-like vesicles, resembling spores, but larger; capillitium attached below, to the interior of the stipe or to the calyculus, in form an elastic network, the tubules adorned with warts, spinules, half-rings, etc., but without spiral bands or free extremities.
Micheli, of course, discovered the arcyrias, put them in two genera and several species, which we may only dimly recognize. Persoon first saw distinctly the outlines of the genus as now understood and adopted the name given by Hill in his curiously prolix description of certain species, probably partly of the genus Arcyria, partly Stemonitis.
Key to the Species of Arcyria
| A. Mature capillitium loosely adhering to the calyculus. | ||||
| a. Mature capillitium far-expanded, drooping. | ||||
| i. Dusky. | ||||
| O Long, 12 mm. or more | 1. A. magna | |||
| OO Shorter, about 6 mm. | 2. A. oerstedtii | |||
| ii. Yellow | 3. A. nutans | |||
| b. Mature capillitium short, not drooping, though sometimes procumbent. | ||||
| i. Capillitium greenish yellow | 4. A. versicolor | |||
| ii. Capillitium reddish, flesh-colored, at length sordid, etc. | ||||
| O Capillitium marked by transverse half-rings, cogs, etc. | 5. A. incarnata | |||
| OO Capillitium marked by sharp-edged transverse plates and by numerous nodes | 6. A. nodulosa | |||
| OOO Capillitium marked by close reticulations | 7. A. ferruginea | |||
| B. Capillitium persistently attached to the calyculus. | ||||
| a. Sporangia reddish brown, etc. | 8. A. denudata | |||
| b. Sporangia gray or ashen | ||||
| i. Simple | 9. A. cinerea | |||
| ii. Clustered | 10. A. digitata | |||
| c. Sporangia yellow | 11. A. pomiformis | |||
| d. Sporangia rose-colored, .5–1.5 mm. | 12. A. insignis | |||
1. Arcyria magna Rex.
- 1893. Arcyria magna Rex, Proc. Phil. Acad., p. 364.