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 Physarum flavicomum
SynonymsPhysarum berkeleyi
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, 1–2 mm tall. Sporotheca globose, subhemispherical or lens-shaped, nodding, sometimes slightly umbilicate below, 0.3–0.6 mm in diameter. Stalk cylindrical, usually relatively long, slender, reddish brown, translucent, often darker at base, limeless, fluted, twisted, tapering upward. Hypothallus membranous, discoid, colourless and iridescent to brown, usually inconspicous. Peridium consisting of a single layer, delicate, dusky yellow or sooty, often nearly limeless and then iridescent, dehiscence irregular, the lime falling away quickly in patches except for the persistent base. Columella absent. Capillitium dense, consisting of yellow lime nodes connected by colourless threads, the nodes varying from small and angular to elongated, often fusiform and sometimes branching, many of the junctions limeless. Spores sooty brown in mass, bright violaceous brown by transmitted light, minutely punctate, 8–10 µm in diameter. Plasmodium yellow, yellowish green or green.
Habitat: Decaying wood, often associated with old fungal sporocarps.
Distribution: Known from scattered localities throughout the world and probably cosmopolitan (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Ing 1999). First reported (as P. berkeleyi) from New Zealand by Lister & Lister (1905), based on a specimen from Stewart Island. Also known from Auckland and Southland (Rawson 1937).
Notes: This species is usually easy to recognise on the basis of the iridescent sporotheca, the relatively long, reddish brown stalk, and the dense, yellow capillitium. Physarum viride is rather similar in appearance but has a limy peridium and is much more common.
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