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 Comatricha alta
SynonymsComatricha nigra var. alta
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, typically occurring in small clusters, 3–6 mm tall. Sporotheca long-ovate to short cylindrical or rarely almost globose, rounded at the apex and base, erect, dark brown, up to 0.6 mm in diameter. Hypothallus discoid or continuous under a group of sporangia, red brown. Stalk usually several times longer than the length of the sporotheca, black and usually opaque, except at the base. Peridium fugacious. Columella almost or completely reaching to the apex of the sporotheca, blunt and sometimes a little widened at the end. Capillitium abundant, brown, connected to the columella predominantly at the base, threads branched and forming wavy loops, hardly anastomosing, with some free, swollen ends, mainly at the base of the sporotheca. Spores black in mass, lilac brown in transmitted light, 7.5–9.0 µm in diameter, with a small round or oval, pale area and covered with very small pale warts. Plasmodium translucent white.
Habitat: Decaying wood and bark.
Distribution: Widespread in Europe (Ing 1999) and also reported from Asia (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). First reported from New Zealand by Cheesman & Lister (1915), based on a specimen collected in Bay of Plenty. Also known from Dunedin.
Notes: No other species of Comatricha found in New Zealand has a capillitium that expands and falls away from the columella. Comatricha alta has not always been distinguished from C. nigra, so its worldwide distribution is incompletely known.
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