Agathis australis Salisb. Auckland. Manaia, Whangarei Heads, 500 ft, October, 1947, J.M. Dingley. Beilschmiedia tawa (A. Cunn.) Hook. f. & Benth. Auckland. Waiotapu, 1,800ft, June, 1950, J.M. Dingley. Te Whaiti, 1,500ft, June, 1951, J.M. Dingley. Orere, Hunua Range, March, 1953, J.M. Dingley. Cordyline australis (Forst. f.) Hook. f. Auckland, Manaia, Whangarei Heads, 500ft, October, 1947, J.M. Dingley. Knightia excelsa R.Br. Auckland. Waipoua Kauri Forest, December, 1951, M.E. Lancaster. Melicytus ramiflorus Forst. Auckland. Purewa Bush, April, 1953, D.W. McKenzie. Nothofagus fusca (Hook. f.) Oerst. Wellington. Day's Bay, February, 1927, D. W. McKenzie. Nothopanax arboreum (Forst. f.) Seem. Auckland. Anawhata Road, Waitakeres, 1,000ft, November, 1948, J.M. Dingley. Kauri Glen, Northcote, August.. 1951, J.M. Dingley. Suttonia salicina Hook. f. Auckland. Cutty Grass Road, Waitakeres, 900ft, August, 1947, J.M. Dingley. Weinmannia racemosa L.f. Otago. Ulva Islet, Stewart Island, February, 1954, J.M. Dingley. Unknown hosts. Auckland. Rotorua, W.N. Cheesman, 1914, type collection, in Kew herbarium. Hunua Range, 1,000ft, May, 1949, J.M. Dingley.

Hymenophore annual, often reviving a second season, sometimes vaguely stratose, membranous, loosely attached, effused forming irregular areas to 10 x 6 cm; surface clay colour, tan, bay-brown or ochre, according to age and hymenial development, even, sometimes pruinose, at length scantily creviced; margin thinning out, clay colour or tan, fibrillose, loosely attached, rhizomorphs rare, when present pallid tan. Context tan or ferruginous, 250-900 µ thick, composed of a thin base of parallel hyphae, an intermediate layer of scanty woven hyphae and masses of stellate setae which are progressively smaller and lighter in colour from base to surface, sometimes obscurely stratose; generative hyphae 2.5-3.5 µ diameter, wall 0.2 µ thick, hyaline, brandied, septate. Hymenial layer 60-130 µ deep, of basidia, paraphyses, gloeocystidia and asterophyses arranged in a loose palisade. Basidia cylindrical, a few subclavate, projecting, 24-32 x 5-6 µ, 4-spored; sterigmata slender, to 6 µ long. Paraphyses subclavate, about half the length of and narrower than the basidia. Gloeocystidia confined to the hymenial layer, projecting to 30 µ, or not, fusiform or subclavate with bluntly acuminate apices, 80-110 x 10-14 µ, wall naked, 0.5-1 µ thick, hyaline. Asterophyses forming the bulk of the hymenial layer, sometimes arranged in several vague zones, composed of subclavate bodies bearing 4-7 short aculeate rays which are sometimes once or twice bifid, attached to long and narrow pedicels often freely geniculated, and sometimes bearing two or three asterophyses in chains. Stellate setae chestnut-brown, 25-150 µ diameter, composed of 3-7 commonly 4-5 aculeate rays each 15-80 µ long, attached radiately to a slightly inflated boss, sometimes bifid. Spores globose or subglobose, appearing angular, 7-10 µ diameter (including spines), wall hyaline, 0-5 µ thick, coarsely echinulate-verrucose, spines acuminate, to 3 µ long.

TYPE LOCALITY. Rotorua, New Zealand.
DISTRIBUTION. New Zealand, Australia, Malaya?

HABITAT. Effused on decayed bark or decorticated wood.

Separated readily from other species, save A. medium Bres., by the coarsely verrucose-echinulate spores. Spines of these are large, with broad bases and acuminate apices, and give to spores an angular appearance though they are globose or subglobose. Although the spores resemble those of A. medium, our species differs in the presence of abundant asterophyses, larger gloeocystidia and much thicker often stratose context.
Surface colour varies appreciably. When sterile plants are darker since many of the coloured stellate setae project; when fertile they assume a lighter colour and often appear pruinose owing to the projecting gloeocystidia. The hymenial layer may be pulled off readily since it is feebly attached by the scanty generative hyphae.
A collection of A. persimile from Australia is in Kew herbarium, donated by the late C.G. Lloyd; and it is possible that it occurs also in Malaya since a drawing by Corner (Trans. Brit. Myc. Soc., 31, 242, 1948) could well be of this species.

[Notes from Kew Type specimen, PRJ 2010] Kew images.

Fungus late effusus, tennis. fragilissimus, margino indeterminato; subiculum spongioso-molle, fulvum. Hymenium avellaneum, pulverulentum. Setae stellatae brunneae, 30-140 µ latae, 3-5 radiatae, radiis 15-75 µ longis, basi 2-7.5 µ crassis. Gloeocystidia fusiformia vel ventricosa, apice acuta, 60-100 x 9-12 µ. Basidia clavata, 4-sterigmatica, 25-32 x 7 µ. Sporae subglobosae, stellato-tuberculosae, hyalinae, 7.5-10 x 6-8 µ. Hyphae hyalinae, tenuiter tunicatae, septatae, 2-2.5 µ diametro.

Exactly resembling in appearance A. cervicolor, to which species this plant was at first referred. It is also close to A. cervicolor in the general type of structure; but differs in the spores, which are angular, with large conical warts like those of Inocybe asterospora, instead of being globose with small spines. The stellate hyphae are also somewhat coarser. It might perhaps be regarded as a variety (geographical?) of A. cervicolor.

Hab. On wood, Rotorua, New Zealand.