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 Calomyxa metallica
SynonymsPhysarum metallicum
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 sessile (or sometimes subsessile) sporangium (occasionally somewhat plasmodiocarpous), widely scattered to densely gregarious or firmly clustered, globose to pulvinate, 0.2–1.0 mm in diameter. Peridium membranous, rugulose, dull to shiny or iridescent yellow, coppery, or grey, translucent or encrusted with glandular material. Capillitium abundant, elastic, consisting of long, flexuous or coiled, simple or sparsely branched, solid, dull yellow or grey filaments 0.5–1.0 µm(occasionally as much as 2.0 µm) in diameter, with few attachments to the peridium, marked by a row of minute tubercules arranged in a long spiral. Spores dull yellow or pinkish grey in mass, nearly colourless by transmitted light, delicately warted to spiny, 8–13 µm in diameter. Plasmodium watery white.
Habitat: Decaying wood or the bark of living trees
Distribution: Widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere (Lado 1994) and also known from Africa (Ukkola 1998), Australia (Mitchell 1995), and South America (Farr 1976). First reported from New Zealand by Mitchell (1992), based on specimens appearing on bark samples placed in moist chamber culture. The samples were collected in Auckland, Bay of Plenty, and North Canterbury.
Notes: This species commonly appears on bark samples placed in moist chamber cultures but is rarely collected in the field.
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