Arcyria cinerea
(Bulliard) Persoon
Description:
SPOROCARPS: stalked, scattered to gregarious some times united by their fused stalks and accruing in digitate clasters of 2 -20 sporangia 0.3 - 0.4 mm tall. Sporotheca ovate to cylindrical, usually tapering towards the apex, pale grey to light brown, ochraceous or sometimes yellowish brown, 0.1 - 0.8 mm in diameter.
STALK: slender, pallid or black up to 2 mm length. Hypothallus discoid or contiguous for a group of sporangia, transparent and often not evident.
PERIDIUM: persisting as a shallow calycus in mature fruiting bodies only, with a smooth, delicately stippled, finely reticulate inner surface.
CAPILLITIUM: consisting of a network of threads 2 - 6 µm in diameter and densely covered with small blunt spines (occasionally also with cogs, bands or reticulations), firmly attached to the calyculus.
SPORES: Pale grey or light yellow in mass, colourless by transmitted light, with a few scattered warts 6 - 7µm in diameter.
PLASMODIUM: White less often grey or pale yellow. HABITAT: Decaying wood, leaf litter and dung.
DISTRIBUTION: Cosmopolitan, known from Auckland , Buller, Canterbury , Coromandel, Dunedin , Northland and Southland.
NOTES: This species has two diffrent forms ovate or cylindrical and two diffrent colours grey or ochraceous.
Macro images:
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.25 mm.
 
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 1 mm.
 
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.5 mm.
 
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.4 mm.
 
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.5 mm.
Cylindrical, ochraceous fruiting body's just as the peridium brakes up.
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.5 mm.
Cylindrical, ochraceous fruiting body's just as the peridium brakes up.
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.7 mm.
Ovate, ochraceous fruiting body's showing the capillitium, notice the scatted spores on the substrate.
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.7 mm.
Ovate, ochraceous fruiting body's showing the capillitium, notice the scatted spores on the substrate.
Arcyria cinerea
Scale bar
Scale= 0.4 mm.
Immature, ochraceous ovate fruiting body's.
 
Micro images:
Scale bar
Magnification = 1000x
Grey or light yellow with a few scatted worts 6-7 µm.
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Magnification = 400x
Capillitium: 2-6 µm in diameter, densely covered in small blunt spines.
 
 
Hidden Forest
Slime Moulds