Le developpement de Limacella glioderma (Fr.) R. Maire

A comparison of the development of Limacella guttata (Fr.) Konrad & Maublanc with that of L. glioderma (Fr.) R. Maire shows clearly that the latter is of a more primitive type. This conclusion is based on the following observations: a. Limacella guttata has a pileocarpic development: the first differentiation inside the primordium is that of the outgrowing and curving hyphae of the margin of the pileus; when similar hyphae appear in the primordium of L. glioderma longitudinal hyphae are simultaneously formed in the stipe. The concentrated development of the former species is moreover indicated by the pear-shaped or bulbous primordia. The primordia of L. glioderma are much more slender. b. The pileipellis of L. guttata is initiated in a very early phase of the development in the shape of a palisadodermium of which each cell devides into smaller cells thus forming an epithelium. The pileipellis of L. glioderma originates tardily in a kind of matrix-layer which belongs to the universal veil; at first it has the nature of an ixo-trichodermium, but later it is reinforced by elements that penetrate into it from below. c. The structure of the young trama of the two species is somewhat different: with L. guttata the hyphal knots are taller with more cells in the centre; these complexes of cells with their encircling hyphae remind of the organisation of the trama of Amanita. Moreover, there are more and larger club-shaped extremities of hyphae in this species. In the other species the hyphal knots look more like those common in most other Agaricales.