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 Diderma cinereum
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, subglobose, somewhat depressed, 0.3–0.5 mm in diameter. Hypothallus inconspicuous. Peridium consisting of a single layer, thin, smooth, crustose, dehiscence irregular. Columella hemispherical to subglobose, conspicuous, white. Capillitium consisting of slender, dark threads, with pale tips, sparsely branched and anastomosing, more or less separate from the columella. Spores black in mass, dark violaceous grey by transmitted light, minutely warted, 9–11 µm in diameter. Plasmodium unknown.
Habitat: Decaying wood, dead leaves and other types of plant debris.
Distribution: Reported from scattered localities in Asia (Yamamoto 1998), Europe (Ing 1999), and North America (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969) but apparently uncommon. Reported from New Zealand by Stagg (1982), based on a specimen collected on Stewart Island.
Notes: In the Northern Hemisphere, this species usually fruits in late spring, which is much earlier in the season than the majority of myxomycetes. The specimen on which the New Zealand record is based was collected in early November, which is consistent with this pattern.
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