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 Perichaena luteola
SynonymsCalonema luteolum
Perichaena luteola
BiostatusPresent in region - Exotic
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, crowded or heaped, globose to subglobose, sometimes laterally compressed from mutual pressure, 0.1–0.5 mm in diameter. Hypothallus inconspicuous. Peridium thin, membranous, golden yellow to orange-yellow, iridescent. Capillitium consisting of tubular threads, with swollen areas and blunt free tips, the walls bearing faint warts and ridges. Spores bright yellow to orange-yellow in mass, pale greenish yellow by transmitted light, delicately spiny, 12–15 µm in diameter. Plasmodium unknown.
Habitat: Dung of herbivorous animals.
Distribution: Described originally (as Calonema luteolum) from western North America and now known from scattered localities in Europe. Not reported in print as occurring in New Zealand but collected from dung in Mid Canterbury
Notes: Dung would seem an unusual place to look for myxomycetes, but Perichaena luteola is one of several species that have been recorded only from this microhabitat (Eliasson & Lundqvist 1979). Another Perichaena commonly found on dung, although not yet known from New Zealand, is P. liceoides. The latter is often considered as a variety of P. corticalis but is probably different enough morphologically to be recognised as a distinct species (Ing 1999).
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