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 Craterium leucocephalum
SynonymsStemonitis leucocephala
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 sessile) sporangium to rarely subplasmodiocarpous, usually gregarious, 1.0–1.5 mm tall. Sporotheca subglobose to turbinate or obovoid to cyathiform or cylindrical, erect, 0.3–0.7 mm in diameter. Stalk cylindrical or expanded upward, sometimes slightly flattened, plicate, reddish brown, translucent, up to one-half the total height, rarely absent. Hypothallus inconspicuous, small, circular, thin, membranous, colourless or light bright in the centre. Peridium membranous, calcareous and white or yellowish white above, ochraceous to yellow-brown or red-brown below, the lower portion persisting as a cartilaginous, ochraceous to reddish brown calyculus, dehiscence circumscissile or sometimes rather irregular. Columella absent. Capillitium physaroid, consisting of large, irregular, white, ochraceous or yellow lime nodes and slender, branching, hyaline connecting filaments with frequent membranous expansions at the junctions, sometimes forming a prominent, central pseudocolumella. Spores black in mass, violaceus brown by transmitted light, 7–9 µm in diameter, minutely verrucose or spinulose. Plasmodium yellow.
Habitat: Leaf litter, twigs, and various other types of plant debris.
Distribution: Considered as cosmopolitan by Martin & Alexopoulos (1969). Reported from New Zealand by Lister & Lister (1905), based on a specimen collected in Taupo.
Notes: This species can be recognised on the basis of having a sporangium that is white above and yellow-brown to reddish-brown below. Several varieties have been described for Craterium leucocephalum, but all of these appear to be linked by intergrading forms (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969) and thus are hardly worth recognising.
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