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 Symphytocarpus flaccidus
SynonymsStemonitis splendens var. flaccida
BiostatusPresent in region - Origin uncertain
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 pseudoaethalium consisting of partially merged sporangia, the entire structure pulvinate or truncate-pyramidal, 0.7–1.5 cm tall and up to 5.0 cm in diameter, rust coloured, red-brown or brown, the separate sporangia cylindrical and about 0.5 mm in diameter. Hypothallus thin, sometimes somewhat spongy, red-brown with a silvery shine. Peridium on the outside of a group of sporangia fugacious except for the thickened, irregularly spaced plates that are not connected to the capillitium, the plates smooth, red-brown, usually with thickened margins that fray into fine threads. Columella usually present, rather irregular in shape and variable in thickness, often bent or split, sometimes united to each other at the base or higher up, red-brown. Capillitium connected at the apex of the columella if the latter is present, sometime absent but usually present as a wide meshed reticulum with some expanded portions and free ends at the periphery, sometimes poorly developed and then falling away early with the spores. Spores red-brown in mass, pale red-brown in transmitted light, minutely to very minutely warted, 7–10 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white or translucent lemon yellow.
Habitat: Decaying wood, usually from pine (Pinus spp.) but also occurring on other conifers.
Distribution: Reported from widely scattered localities in North America and Europe; also recorded from Australia (Mitchell 1995). First reported from New Zealand by Lister & Lister (1905), based on a specimen from South Canterbury.
Notes: Fruitings of Symphytocarpus flaccidus have the general appearance and colour of large and rather compact masses of sporangia of Stemonitis splendens. Both are considered to represent different forms of the same species in some taxonomic treatments of the myxomycetes.
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