ON SOIL. Northern Territory, Bickerton Island, Gulf of Carpentaria. Queensland, Brisbane; Gainsford (herb. Kew). South Australia, no locality. New South Wales, Neutral Bay; Waterfall Gully; Nowra; Sydney. Victoria, Yarra Yarra Plains, (Type collection, herb. Kew).

Hymenophore annual; membranous, centrally stipitate, composed of numerous (15-26) erect branches arising from a simple stem attached to a broad mycelial base, to 4 cm tall, 3 cm across, stems to 10 mm long and 5 mm wide; main branches chocolate; terete, 1-2 mm diameter, some slightly flattened, becoming once, twice, or thrice branched either dichotomously or irregularly, terminating in usually bifid tips grey or ochre in colour; hymenial surface amphigenous below, inferior on upper branches, even, chocolate. Context of numerous cordons of loosely arranged parallel hyphae with intertwined hyphae between; generative hyphae 4.5-5 µm diameter, walls 0.2 µm thick, tinted brown, freely branched at a wide angle, septate, with numerous often proliferating clamp connections. Hymenial layer to 160 µm deep, of 1-3 layers, a close palisade of basidia and paraphyses. Basidia clavate, 30-40 x 7-8 µm, bearing 4 spores; sterigmata erect, slender, to 6 µm long. Paraphyses clavate, 12-22 x 5-6 µm. Spores broadly oblong or oval, 8-10 x 7-8 µm, walls sinuate, finely sparsely verruculose, tinted ferruginous, 0.2 µm thick.

DISTRIBUTION: Australia.

HABITAT: Solitary or gregarious on the ground.

When well developed, plants possess a freely branched pileus attached to a stout short.stem arising from a bulbous mycelial base. Primary branches are stout, and bear secondary branches which in turn may branch once or twice, either dichotomously or irregularly, tips being of lighter colour and broadened slightly. The hymenium is amphigenous on stems and main branches, inferior above, the surface being rich chocolate and even. Basidia develop in corymbose clusters each surrounded by several paraphyses. Cordons are abundant in tissues of the stem, lying parallel with one another and separated by loosely intertwined hyphae. Some hyphae of which cordons are composed may be lactiferous as they contain deeply staining contents. Variability in size and shape of plants is considerable, almost every specimen examined differing in size, number of branches and type of branching. Although three species with this form of fructification have been described from Australia, examination of the types of Thelephora congesta and 'Stereum' simulans ex "Brisbane, F. M. Bailey" have shown them to be based on plants of the same species. Thelephora archeri Berk. has been shown by Reid (1956, p. 536) to be an heterobasidiomycete which he referred to Pseudotremellodon pusio (Berk.) Reid. Even the generic position has been in doubt. Both Bresadola and Lloyd referred Thelephora congesta and Stereum simulans to Lachnocladium , and Lloyd (1919, p. 15) listed Thelephora archeri and Lachnocladium congestum under Dendrocladium.

FIG. 126. Stereum scutellatum. Showing the monomitic hyphal system, abhymenial hairs, cortex, conducting hyphae and (b) elliptical spores. (a) Spores of S. sanguinolentum.

TYPE LOCALITY: Yarra Yarra Plains, Victoria, Australia.