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 Didymium iridis
SynonymsDidymium nigripes var. xanthopus
Didymium xanthopus
Cionium iridis
Cionium xanthopus
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, scattered to gregarious, up to 1.5 mm tall. Sporotheca [ital]globose or slightly depressed, erect, white, 0.4–0.6 mm in diameter. Peridium thin, membranous, nearly or quite colourless, more or less densely covered with white lime crystals. Stalk slender, cylindrical, usually two-thirds or more of the total height, yellow or yellowish brown, translucent. Columella white or nearly so, turbinate, depressed-globose or subglobose. Capillitium delicate, consisting of colourless or pale yellow-brown branching threads, always hyaline at the tips. Spores brown in mass, pale violaceous by transmitted light, minutely warted or nearly smooth, 7–9 µm in diameter. Plasmodium yellowish or brown.
Habitat: Dead leaves and other types of plant debris.
Distribution: Regarded as cosmopolitan by Martin & Alexopoulos (1969). Reported
(as Didymium nigripes var. xanthopus) from New Zealand by Cheesman & Lister (1915) without naming a specific locality.
Notes: As noted under Didymium bahiense, D. iridis is at the centre of a species complex to which many of the long-stalked species of Didymium have been assigned by some authors. If recognised as distinct, as is the case herein, D. iridis can be recognised by the prominent, white, clavate columella that becomes visible after most of the spores have been lost from the sporangium. The early records of this species from New Zealand may refer to D. bahiense, which appears to be much more common. However, several specimens obtained from moist chamber cultures during more recent studies (unpubl. data) do appear to represent D. iridis.
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