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 Physarum robustum
SynonymsPhysarum nutans var. robustum
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 or sessile sporangium (less commonly plasmodiocarpous), clustered, up to 1.5 mm tall. Sporotheca hemispherical to subglobose, with a more or less flatten base, 0.7–1.0 mm in diameter. Stalk relatively short, usually not longer than the diameter of the sporotheca, grooved, sometimes twisted, tapering upward, ochraceous, darker below. Hypothallus discoid or contiguous for a group of sporangia, brown. Peridium consisting of a single layer, colourless except for a pale brown zone around the stalk, impregnated with lime or lime scales except around the stalk, dehiscence irregular, usually with the basal portion remaining as a cup with a roughly petaloid rim. Columella absent or represented by a small flat brown basal thickening. Capillitium radiating from the apex of the stalk, the lime nodes white, small and spindle-shaped or oblong, rarely rounded and nearly as long as wide, forming a pseudocolumella at the centre of the sporotheca. Spores dark brown in mass, lilac in transmitted light, sometimes slightly irregular in shape, covered with fine warts and sometimes also with groups of warts, 9–12 µm in diameter. Plasmodium ivory, white or grey
Habitat: Decaying wood and bark.
Distribution: Widespread in Europe (Ing 1999) and also known from Asia (Yamamoto 1998). Reported (as Physarum nutans var. robustum) from New Zealand by Rawson (1937), based on a specimen from South Canterbury.
Notes: This species is most similar morphologically to Physarum leucophaeum but can be distinguished on the basis of the distinctive radiating capillitium and the presence of a pseudocolumella (Nannenga-Bremekamp 1991).
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