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 Lycogala flavofuscum
SynonymsDiphtherium flavofuscum
BiostatusPresent in region - Indigenous. Non endemic
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Owner: Herb. PDD |
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 an aethalium, solitary or in small clusters of 2–5, often only partially separated, sessile and pulvinate to rounded or sometimes when developing on an inferior surface, pyriform and short-stalked, pyriform and appearing short-stipitat, silvery grey or ochraceous to purplish brown, mostly 2–4 cm in their largest dimension, occasionally much larger. Cortex nearly smooth, somewhat glossy, or minutely areolate, thick, brittle. Pseudocapillitium consisting of nearly colourless, branching and anastomosing tubules, wrinkled and papillose or nearly smooth, the larger branches 25–60 µm in diameter and the smaller ones 10–25 µm in diameter, the axils expanded, the ends free, rounded. Spores buff in mass, colourless by transmitted light, faintly reticulate, 5–6 µm in diameter. Plasmodium pale pink becoming buff, then pallid.
Habitat: Decaying wood, often that of a tree that is still living and sometimes fruiting well above the ground.
Distribution: Reported from Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia but never common (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). Apparently, this is a species characteristic of temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. First reported from New Zealand by Rawson (1937), based on a specimen collected in South Canterbury. Also known from Waikato and Otago Lakes
Notes: Fruiting bodies of Lycogala flavofuscum are large enough to be confused with those of a small puffball, but the thick, brittle cortex is quite different from the peridium of a mature puffball.
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