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 Cribraria macrocarpa
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 sporangium, gregarious to often crowded, total height 2–3 mm. Sporotheca pear-shaped or ovate, erect or nodding, yellowish brown or bronze and iridescent, 0.8–1.0 mm in diameter. Stalk brown, furrowed, mostly 1–2 times as long as the diameter of the sporotheca, arising from a thin, iridescent hypothallus, expanded above, merging into the calyculus. Hypothallus thin, iridescent. Peridial net irregular, the nodes flat, expanded, dark, the filaments delicate, often dichotomously branched, the free ends sometimes circinate. Calyculus rather deep, marked by numerous dark brown radiating dentate ribs, iridescent, with many perforations in upper part so that it merges gradually with the peridial net; dictydine granules dark, 1–2 µm in diameter. Spores yellowish brown in mass, almost colourless by transmitted light, minutely roughened, 5–7 µm in diameter. Plasmodium slate-coloured.
Habitat: Decaying wood, especially that of conifers.
Distribution: Widespread in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia (Alexopoulos & Martin 1969) and also known from Australia (1995) but apparently limited to temperate regions of the world (Farr 1976). First reported from New Zealand by Rawson (1937), based on specimens collected in South Canterbury and Dunedin. Also known from Nelson and Stewart Island.
Notes: The most useful features distinguishing Cribraria macrocarpa from other species in the genus are the large dark sporotheca and the perforated margin of the calyculus that merges gradually with the peridial net. In other morphologically similar species, the margin of the peridial net is either clearly distinct (e.g., C. vulgaris) or the peridial net itself is poorly developed (e.g., C. argillacea).
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