|
 Diderma testaceum
SynonymsDidymium testaceum
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 to clustered, hemispherical to depressed-globose, 0.7–1.0 mm in diameter. Hypothallus membranous, thin, delicate, colourless, often not evident. Peridium consisting of two layers, the outer layer smooth, polished, porcelain-like, pale flesh-coloured or pink, the inner layer membranous, remote from the outer layer, thin, often wrinkled, grey. Columella prominent, convex to hemispherical, slightly roughened, pink to reddish brown. Capillitium abundant, consisting of delicate, flexuose, sparingly branched, pale violaceous or colourless threads. Spores black in mass, light violaceous brown by transmitted light, 8–9 µm in diameter, nearly smooth to minutely but densely warted. Plasmodium yellowish buff.
Habitat: Dead leaves and other types of plant debris, usually in moist habitats.
Distribution: Recorded from Asia, Europe, and North America (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). Not reported in print as occurring in New Zealand but represented by a specimen collected in Dunedin.
Notes: The pink colour of the porcelain-like outer peridium in freshly formed sporangia is distinctive. The rather old specimen upon which the New Zealand record is based has not retained its colour and is now entirely white.
|