|
 Diderma spumarioides
SynonymsDidymium spumarioides
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 sporangium, gregarious or (more commonly) densely crowded, globose, 0.4–0.8 mm in diameter, usually deeply imbedded in the hypothallus. Hypothallus contiguous to a group of sporangia, thick, white to cream-coloured. Peridium consisting of two layers, the outer layer smooth to rugulose or areolate, densely calcareous, fragile, white to pale ochraceous, the inner layer closely adherent to the outer layer, membranous, dull grey, dehiscence irregular. Capillitium usually abundant, rather sparsely branched and anstomosing, slender, sinuous, purple-brown with pale tips. Spores black in mass, light yellowish or violaceous brown by transmitted light, minutely and often irregularly warted or spiny, 8–11 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white.
Habitat: Dead leaves and other types of plant debris; sometimes encrusting living plants.
Distribution: Considered as cosmopolitan by Martin & Alexopoulos (1969). Not reported in print as occurring in New Zealand but represented by a specimen from Dunedin.
Notes: The densely crowded sporangia deeply embedded in a prominent, white hypothallus make this an easy species to identify
|