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 Physarum lateritium
SynonymsDidymium lateritium
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 (occasionally forming short plasmodiocarps), gregarious or clustered, globose to subglobose or ovoid, 0.3–0.8 mm in diameter. Hypothallus membranous, colourless to reddish brown, usually very scanty. Peridium consisting of a single layer, thin, somewhat rugulose, yellowish red, orange or scarlet, sometimes fading, dotted with minute scarlet lime scales. Capillitium delicate, usually dense, consisting of rounded, pallid to yellow lime nodes, these often with deep yellow or red centres, connected by hyaline or yellow threads, the lime often of large, subcrystalline granules, many of the nodes limeless, consisting merely of membranous expansions. Spores violet brown in mass, clear bright violet by transmitted light, minutely warted, 7–9 µm in diameter. Plasmodium orange yellow.
Habitat: Decaying wood, leaf litter, and other types of plant debris; in New Zealand most common on decaying fronds of nikau palm.
Distribution: An apparently rare species recorded from widely scattered localities in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Farr 1976, Yamamoto 1998). First reported from New Zealand by Cheesman & Lister (1911), based on a specimen from Auckland. Also known from Southland (Rawson 1937).
Notes: Physarum braunianum is the only other species known from New Zealand that might be confused with P. lateritium. However, the former is smaller, much less common, and lacks lime nodes with the distinctive yellow or red centres characteristic of the latter. Physarum lateritium is not uncommon on the decaying fronds of nikau palm (Stephenson 2003).
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