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 Lamproderma splendens
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, gregarious or crowded, total height 1.0–1.8 mm. Sporotheca globose, 0.8–1.2 mm in diameter. Stalk short, black, 0.3–0.6 mm long and usually thicker at the base. Hypothallus reddish brown, usually contiguous for a group of sporangia. Peridium rather persistent, lead grey, silvery to violet, iridescent, the lower portion with darker patches, dehiscence irregular, breaking up into unevenly sized pieces. Columella reaching to about the centre of the sporotheca, cylindrical, the tip clavate or not thickened, black, opaque. Capillitium arising from the tip and the upper third of the columella, the inner portion more or less straight, flattened and spirally twisted, the outer portion branched and anastomosed to form a dense, irregularly wavy net and connected to the peridium, brown near the columella and colourless outwards, so that the empty sporotheca appears white. Spores dark brown in mass, brown by transmitted light, densely and finely spiny (the spines less than 0.5 µm long), 10–11 µm in diameter. Plasmodium unknown.[
Habitat: Decaying wood, wood debris, and dead leaves (usually of conifers); occasionally fruiting on low shrubs and other living plants.
Distribution: Reported from numerous localities in the mountains of western North America and Europe (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). First reported from New Zealand by Stephenson and Johnston (2003), based on a collection from Mid Canterbury.
Notes: Lamproderma splendens is sometimes considered as a synonym of L. arcyrioides, a species not known from New Zealand. The most useful features for identification are the short stalk and the tough, rather persistent peridium.[
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