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 Licea parasitica
SynonymsHymenobolus parasiticus
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 sessile sporangium, scattered to gregarious, subglobose, pulvinate or occasionally somewhat elongated, dark brownish grey, 0.05–0.2 mm in diameter. Peridium thick, opaque, gelatinous when moist, the lower portion with abundant deposits of granular refuse matter present, dehiscence typically by a well-defined operculum, which is smooth or areolate above, minutely papillate within; when the operculum is lacking, dehiscence is apical and irregular. Spores brown in mass, by transmitted light smoky yellowish brown on one side, pallid on the other, subglobose, thick-walled, nearly smooth, 11–13 µm in diameter. Plasmodium watery orange, yellow or grey.
Habitat: Bark of living trees
Distribution: Widely distributed in North America and Europe (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969); also known from Australia (Mitchell 1995). First reported from New Zealand by Mitchell (1992), based on a specimen appearing on bark samples placed in moist chamber cultures. The bark samples were collected in Bay of Plenty.
Notes: In temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Licea parasitica commonly appears on bark samples placed in moist chamber cultures, where the fruiting bodies are often associated with the epiphytic bryophytes and lichens that also occur in such substrates. Fruiting bodies require a relatively longer time to develop than is the case for most species of Licea and remain rather gelatinous until almost mature
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