PDD 17572, 17600

Fruiting body a sessile (or rarely short-stalked) sporangium, scattered to gregarious, globose to subglobose, orange-brown to dull brown or sometimes rosaceous, 0.5–2.2 mm in diameter. Hypothallus usually inconspicuous. Peridium thin, transparent, often somewhat iridescent. Capillitium consisting of numerous yellow-brown, more or less spirally banded threads that originate at the base of the sporangium and ultimately become somewhat subdivided above. Spores orange-brown to dull brown in mass, yellow by transmitted light, spiny, 10–14 µm in diameter. Plasmodium white.

Widely distributed in Europe and in the mountains of western North America (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). In the Southern Hemisphere also known from Australia. First reported from New Zealand by Mitchell (1992), based on specimens collected in South Canterbury and Southland.

Decaying wood and bark, especially that of conifers.

Martin & Alexopoulos (1969), Neubert et al. (1993), Lado & Pando (1997), Ing (1999).

Prototrichia metallica is one of the more distinctive myxomycetes characteristically found in alpine regions of the temperate zone in the Northern Hemisphere.