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 Stemonitis mussooriensis
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, rather closely aggregated in large tufts, 1.5–3.0 mm tall. Sporotheca cylindrical, black, 0.2–0.3 mm in diameter. Stalk short, erect, jet black, one-quarter to one-third the height of the entire sporangium, expanded at the base, gradually tapering upward. Hypothallus membranous, shining, silvery. Peridium fugacious. Columella prominent, thick, black, sparsely branched, tapering gradually upward, flexuous above, ending abruptly just below the obtuse apex of the sporotheca. Capillitium lax, composed of branching, tapering, flattened branches, these anastomosing with the surface net which has smaller meshes than those of the interior. Spores black in mass, violaceous brown by transmitted light, profusely and prominently spiny, 10.5–12.5 µm in diameter. Plasmodium unknown.
Habitat: Decaying wood and the bark of living trees.
Distribution: Described originally from Asia and now also known from Europe and South America (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Farr 1976, Nannenga-Bremekamp 1991). First reported from New Zealand by Mitchell (1992), based on a specimen appearing on bark samples placed in moist chamber culture. The bark samples were collected in Auckland.
Notes: The distinguishing features of this apparently rare species are the very large meshes of the surface net and the relatively large (at least for a Stemonitis) spores.
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