FWVA 9537

Fruiting body a stalked sporangium, scattered or gregarious, 1.0–1.5 mm tall. Sporotheca globose, erect, 0.4–0.6 mm in diameter. Stalk slender, rigid, black, two-thirds to three-quarters the total height. Hypothallus ranging from inconspicuous to contiguous for a group of sporangia, membranous, colourless to brown. Peridium persistent, membranous, silvery grey or iridescent bronze, persisting at the base of the sporotheca as a collar after the upper portion has broken away, dehiscence irregular. Columella cylindrical, slender, attaining one-third to one-half the height of the sporotheca and there dividing into two or more thick branches that by further division give rise to capillitium. Capillitium dense, with curled branches, these anastomosing and often leaving few free ends. Spores black in mass, violaceous grey by transmitted light, minutely punctate, sometimes with darker clusters, 7–9 µm in diameter. Plasmodium watery white.

Reported as cosmopolitan by Martin & Alexopoulos (1969) but apparently absent at high latitudes (Stephenson et al. 2000). Not reported in print as occurring in New Zealand but recorded from Wellington.

Decaying wood; less commonly occurring on leaf litter and other types of plant debris.

Martin & Alexopoulos (1969), Stephenson & Stempen (1994), Ing (1999), Neubert et al. (2000).

Collaria arcyrionema can be recognised by the combination of a silvery peridium and an intricate, coiled capillitium. This species is listed as Lamproderma arcyrionema in all but the most recent treatments of the myxomycetes.