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 Stemonitis virginiensis
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 in small clusters, 2–6 mm tall. Sporotheca cylindrical to elongated-ovate, blunt or slightly acuminate above, erect, violaceous-brown, up to 0.3 mm in diameter. Stalk black, shining, 0.5–2.0 mm tall, one-quarter to one-third the height of the entire sporangium. Hypothallus membranous, reddish brown, contiguous for a group of sporangia. Peridium fugacious. Columella reaching the apex of the sporotheca, giving rise to a delicate capillitium, the ultimate branches united with the small-meshed surface net that tends to fall away above. Spores bright in mass, pale lilac-brown by transmitted light, marked by a sharp reticulation of narrow bands connecting prominent warts, 6–7 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white.
Habitat: Decaying wood and bark.
Distribution: Reported from widely scattered localities in North America and Europe but never common (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). First reported from New Zealand by Rawson (1937), based on a specimen collected in South Canterbury.
Notes: The combination of violaceous-brown sporangia and reticulate spores distinguish Stemonitis virginiensis
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