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 Arcyria virescens
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 or clustered, often occurring in large colonies, up to 4 mm tall. Sporotheca cylindrical, dull green, fading to greenish ochraceous, 0.2–0.5 mm in diameter. Stalk slender, dark olive-green, 0.5–1.5 mm high, with few or no spore-like cells inside, free or adherent in groups of 2–10. Hypothallus[ital] inconspicuous. Peridium persisting in mature fruiting bodies only as a distinct calyculus, the latter small, narrow, funnel-shaped, reticulate and spinuose on the inner surface. Capillitium a loose elastic network of greenish yellow threads, free from the cup and expanding into a column up to 10 mm long and 1 mm wide, the threads 5–6 µm in diameter, marked with scattered groups of close-set, prominent, sharp-edged transverse ridges 3–5 µm high, arranged in an open spiral, the remaining surface obscurely reticulate and roughened with delicate spines. Spores yellowish green in mass, pale yellow in transmitted light, nearly smooth, 7–9 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white.
Habitat: Decaying wood
Distribution: Apparently most common in Asia (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969) and also known from Australia (Mitchell 1995). First reported from New Zealand by Rawson (1937), based on specimens collected in South Canterbury and Dunedin.
Notes: The dull green color of Arcyria virescens is distinctive. This species appears to have a distribution that is largely tropical or subtropical. As such, its occurrence in southern New Zealand would seem surprising. It is possible that these reports were based upon misidentification of specimens that actually represented some other species (e.g., A. obvelata). However, since there is no way to determine whether or not this was the case, the occurrence of A. virescens in New Zealand, albeit somewhat problematic, cannot be dismissed.
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