DWM 3154.

Fruiting body a plasmodiocarp, simple or branched, sometimes forming rings or close nets, less commonly shortened to pulvinate sporangia or forming a pseudoaethalium, 0.3–1.0 mm or more in diameter, Peridium consisting of two layers, the outer layer cartilaginous, opaque, ochraceous brown or dull purplish brown, with a more or less wrinkled surface, granular, the inner layer membranous. Capillitium usually sparse, of simple or scantily branched, slender, pale brown threads, 1.5–2.5 µm in diameter, variously beaded and often spirally twisted or with the markings in long spirals. Spores yellow in mass, pale or colourless by transmitted light, subglobose to broadly ellipsoidal, mostly clustered in groups of 2–6, bearing spines on the exposed side, 10–15 by 8–10 µm. Plasmodium pink.

Widely distributed in Europe and also known from scattered localities in temperate North American and Australia (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969, Lister & Lister 1915). First reported from New Zealand by Rawson (1937), based on a specimen collected in Dunedin. Also known from the Bay of Plenty (Mitchell 1992).

Decaying wood, usually coniferous.

Martin & Alexopoulos (1969), Lando & Pando (1997), Ing (1999).

This uncommon species appears to have a distribution limited largely to montane coniferous forests of the Northern Hemisphere. A well-defined capillitium is often absent, making a positive identification difficult.