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 Badhamia utricularis
SynonymsSphaerocarpus utricularis
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 (or rarely sessile) sporangium, clustered, globose to ovate or obpyriform, 0.5–1.0 mm in diameter. Stalk beige or yellow or reddish brown, weak, branched, often prostrate. Hypothallus membranous, brown to ochraceous, gradually merging into the stalks. Peridium consisting of a single layer, membranous, smooth to rugulose or netted, blue grey or iridescent violet or cinereous, hyaline or white when the spores have been dispersed. Columella absent. Capillitium delicate, consisting of calcareous tubules of a more or less uniform diameter, white. Spores dull blackish brown in mass, bright violet brown by transmitted light, loosely aggregated into clusters that readily break apart, warted, 10–14 µm in diameter. Plasmodium yellow.
Habitat: Dead bark of decaying logs; often associated with old sporocarps of wood-decaying fungi.
Distribution: Cosmopolitan (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). First reported from New Zealand by Macbride (1926), based on a specimen cited without naming a specific locality. Known from Wellington, Buller, and the Auckland Islands.
Notes: This is the most common species of Badhamia in New Zealand. The often somewhat pendent sporangia on thin strand-like stalks and with an iridescent peridium are not likely to be confused with any other species in the genus
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