MYRTACEAE. Leptospermum ericoides: Auckland, Great King Island. WINTERACEAE. Pseudowintera colorata: Otago, Horseshoe Bay, Stewart Island, type collection, P.D.D. herbarium, No. 13660.

Hymenophore annual, membranous, adherent, effused forming irregular colonies, 1-4 x 0.5-2 cm; hymenial surface cream, even although at first often porose, not creviced; margin thinning out, arachnoid, white, adherent. Context white, 30-50 µ thick, basal layer of a few repent hyphae, intermediate layer of scanty mainly erect hyphae; generative hyphae 4-5 µ diameter, walls 0.5 µ thick, naked, often inflated between septa, with clamp connections. Cystidia arising from the basal layer or subhymenium and projecting to 50 µ, cylindrical, 35-70 x 10-12 µ, tapering to apices where each is capped with a crystalline body to 8 µ diameter, resembling a miniature parasol, with radiating ridges terminating in acute spines, walls naked, thickened to 3 µ. Hymenial layer to 20 µ deep, a loose palisade of basidia, paraphyses, and cystidia. Basidia subclavate, 10-14 x 5-6 µ, bearing 4 spores; sterigmata slender, erect, to 5 µ long. Paraphyses subclavate, 8-10 x 3.5-4 µ. Spores elliptical, sometimes flattened on one side, or obovate, apiculate, 5-6 x 3-3.5 µ, walls smooth, hyaline, 0.2 µ thick.

TYPE LOCALITY: Stewart Island, Otago, New Zealand.
DISTRIBUTION: New Zealand.

HABITAT: Effused on bark or decorticated dead branches.

Cystidia project for the greater part of their length, are moderately thick-walled, taper from bases, and bear upon apices caps of fused crystals which resemble miniature parasols. The exterior of each cap is ribbed and ribs terminate in acute down-pointed spines. But one other species with such a feature has been described, T. hamata (Jacks.) Donk, which differs in the larger basidia and differently shaped spores. Walls of cystidia are naked and are destroyed with solutions of potassium hydroxide although the apical `caps remain inaltered.

Hyphae hyaline, much branched, short-celled, clamped at all septa. Lyocystidia strongly projecting, radicate at the base, gradually, tapering, broadly rounded at the apex and covered by a large umbrella-shaped crystalline head, 6-8.6 µm across, not soluble in KOH; cystidium wall hyaline, smooth, not amyloid, unevenly thick-walled up to 3.7 µm wide; wall frequently asymmetrically thickened, dissolving in 10% KOH; cystidia 38-70 x 6.8-10 µm. Miniature cystidia of the same shape, possibly juvenile forms, up to 4-7 x 6 µm, with umbrella-shaped crystalline head 5 µm across. Basidia barrel-shaped, with four sterigmata, 12.5-17.5 x 5-7 µm. Spores hyaline, smooth, oblong-ellipsoid, 4.5-6.5 x 2.5-3.5(-4.5) µm, not amyloid.

The conspicuous capitate lyocystidia of T. umbraculus are found in only two other species, T. hamatus (H.S. Jackson) Donk and T. corneri Jülich. Both T. umbraculus and T. hamatus have an effused, even hymenophore, whereas that of T. corneri is odontioid to hydnoid (Jülich 1979). Oberwinkler (1966) and Jülich (1979) considered T. umbraculus and T. hamatus conspecific, but Weresub (1961) found that the holotypes of these two species could be distinguished by spore shape; spores of T. hamatus were described as "broadly ellipsoid, 5.5-7(-8.2) x 4-5.5 µm". Weresub (1961) and Cunningham (1955) also noted that basidia of T. hamatus are larger (up to 30 x 8.5 µm) than those of T. umbraculus. Furthermore, the cystidia, while similar with the conspicuous crystalline head, apparently differ in wall thickening; in T. hamatus the walls were rarely up to 2-3 µm thick and not reported to be asymmetrically thickened (Weresub 1961).
In confirming the careful observations made by Weresub (1961) for T. umbraculus and accepting her description of T. hamatus, we consider that separation of the two species is justified on the basis of morphological differences in cystidia, basidia, and spores.

Holotype: on Pseudowintera colorata (Raoul) Dandy, New Zealand, Stewart Island, Horse Shoe Bay, coll. J.M. Dingley, 17 Feb. 1954 (PDD 13660).