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 Physarum braunianum
BiostatusAbsent from region
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 or clustered but not heaped, subglobose to erect-ovate, 0.3–0.5 mm in diameter. Hypothallus inconspicuous. Peridium consisting of a single layer, membranous, brown or reddish brown, speckled with pale spots that represent accumulations of yellow or white lime granules, or with scanty lime and then uniformly purplish brown, dehiscence irregular. Columella absent. Capillitium consisting of a network of small, angular or branching, deep ochraceous or brown nodes connected by hyaline threads. Spores dark brown in mass, violet brown by transmitted light, spiny, 8–10 µm in diameter. Plasmodium unknown.
Habitat: Dead leaves and other types of plant debris.
Distribution: An apparently rather rare species recorded from a few localities in Europe and North America (Martin & Alexopoulos). Reported from New Zealand by Mitchell (1992), based on a specimen from Taranaki collected in 1924.
Notes: This species is similar morphologically to several other species of Physarum (e.g., P. lateritium) that produce relatively small, sessile sporangia and can occur in similar situations, but none of these has a peridium impregnated with accumulations of yellow or white lime granules (Hagelstein 1944).
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