1. Craterium paraguayense (Speg.) List.

Sporangia gregarious, cylindrical or elongate cyathiform, stipitate, dark violet-red, the apex slightly roughened by pale calcareous granules, the peridium longitudinally wrinkled below; dehiscence, irregularly circumscissile; stipe darker, one-half the height of the sporangium, longitudinally wrinkled; capillitium dense, abundantly calcareous; spores violet-brown, minutely roughened, 7–8 µ.

In form resembling the following species, but instantly distinguished by the color, which is red throughout, tinged with purple or violet. The capillitium is badhamioid, as noted by Dr. Rex. Very distinct from P. newtoni in color, form, habit, epispore, etc.

2. Craterium aureum (Schum.) Rost.

Sporangia gregarious, globose or obovoid, stipitate, yellow, erect, the peridial wall thin, especially at the summit, where at maturity it breaks up somewhat reticulately, leaving the persistent lower portion with an uneven margin above which projects the pale yellow capillitium; stipe short, orange, or brownish-red, arising from a small hypothallus; capillitium dense, yellow, the nodules not large, irregular, tending to form a pseudo-columella in the centre of the cup; spores minutely warted, violaceous-brown, 8–10 µ.

Fries regards this, which he names C. mutabile, the most distinctly marked species of the genus; chiefly, as it appears, on account of the bright yellow color. This, however, varies. Some specimens before us are gray, showing only a trace of yellow below. In some European specimens a reddish tinge prevails. The form of the sporangium also varies. In typical specimens, unopened, the shape is almost pyriform; opened, we have a cylindric, oftenest lemon-yellow vase, mounted on a short striate stalk. But again, from the same plasmodium, we may have globose sporangia, opening so as to leave only a shallow, salver-shaped base. In this case the stipe is also longer. The plasmodium is said to be "clear lemon yellow."—Massee.

There seems little doubt that Schumacher had in mind the present species in his Trichia aurea. Rostafinski shows that Fries's synonym, C. mutabile, is founded on a mistake. The earlier specific name is therefore on Rostafinski's authority adopted.