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 Stemonitis herbatica
BiostatusPresent in region - Indigenous. Non endemic
Article: Stephenson, S.L. (2003). Myxomycetes of New Zealand. Fungi of New Zealand. Ngā Harore o Aotearoa 3: xiv + 238 p. Hong Kong: Fungal Diversity Press.
Description: Fruiting body a stalked (or occasionally nearly sessile) sporangium, in small, gregarious clusters, 3–7 mm tall. Sporotheca cylindrical, erect, obtuse, bright to dark reddish or purplish brown, 0.2 mm in diameter. Stalk short, usually no more than one-fifth of the height of the entire sporangium, black, only slightly expanded below. Hypothallus membranous, brown, usually inconspicuous. Peridium fugacious. Columella attenuated upwards, sometimes not reaching the apex of the sporotheca. Capillitium brown, the inner network moderately dense, often with some membranous expansions, surface net paler, the meshes small, polygonal. Spores dark purplish brown in mass, pale by transmitted light, minutely warted, 7–9 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white to pale yellow.
Habitat: Living plants and various types of plant debris; occasionally occurring on decaying wood.
Distribution: Reported from numerous localities in North America and Europe; also known from Africa (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). First reported from New Zealand by Lister & Lister (1905), based on a specimen collected in Taranaki. Also known from Auckland, Gisborne, South Canterbury.
Notes: This species shares many features in common with Stemonitis flavogenita, and Farr (1976) suggested that it is possible that they represent different forms of the same taxonomic entity. However, the sporangia of S. herbatica typically have shorter stalks and fewer membranous expansions in the capillitium. Moreover, fruitings of S. herbatica usually occur on living plants, a substrate on which S. flavogenita is rarely found
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