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 Arcyria minuta
SynonymsArcyria carnea
Arcyria gulielmae
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, crowded and often occurring in large groups, 1.0–3.0 mm tall. Sporotheca ovate to cylindrical, pinkish red to brick-red but weathering to brown, 0.2–0.3 mm in diameter. Stalk slender, striate, the same colour as the sporotheca or darker, 0.5–1.5 mm long. Hypothallus inconspicuous. Peridium persisting in mature fruiting bodies only as a shallow calyculus, the latter almost flat, pleated. Capillitium consisting of a network of threads 3–5 µm in diameter. and profusely marked with cogs, half-rings, and partial reticulations, firmly attached to the whole inner surface of the calyculus. Spores red or reddish brown in mass, colourless by transmitted light, densely and very palely minutely warted, with dispersed larger warts, 8–10 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white.
Habitat: Decaying wood, usually that of fallen branches.
Distribution: Reported from Europe (Ing 1999), Africa (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969), and Australia (Mitchell 1995) but not common. First reported (as A. carnea) from New Zealand by Rawson (1937), based on a specimen from South Canterbury/Dunedin.
Notes: Arcyria minuta is more difficult to define than is the case for most members of the genus Arcyria. It has been confused with several other species (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Neubert & Nannenga-Bremekamp 1976), thus making its world distribution uncertain. The species can be distinguished from similar species of Arcyria known to occur in New Zealand on the basis of having a capillitium profusely marked with irregular cogs, half rings, and partial reticulations.
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