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 Physarum leucopus
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, up to 1 mm tall. Sporotheca globose, 0.4–0.5 mm in diameter. Stalk white, calcareous, grooved, brittle, tapering upward, about equal to the sporotheca or sometimes much shorter. Hypothallus discoid, membranous, white or colourless, often inconspicuous. Peridium calcareous, white, the lime in small frosty particles, suggesting a Didymium. Columella short, conical, sometimes absent. Capillitium rather lax, consisting of large, angular, white lime nodes connected by long, hyaline threads, the nodes sometimes massed in the centre and then forming a pseudocolumella. Spores black in mass, pale violet brown by transmitted light, distinctly warted, 8–10 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white, often lightly tinted with blue, green, or yellow.
Habitat: Leaf litter and less commonly decaying wood.
Distribution: Considered as cosmopolitan by Martin & Alexopoulos (1969). First reported from New Zealand by Colenso (1891), based on a specimen from Hawkes Bay. Also known from Gisborne.
Notes: Several authors (e.g., Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Ing 1999) have noted the general resemblance of this species to Didymium squamulosum, but on closer examination the very different nature of the capillitium in the two becomes apparent. Physarum leucopus is somewhat similar in appearance to P. globuliferum but has a much shorter, thicker stalk and often lacks the columella present in the latter.
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