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Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875

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Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875

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Indigenous, non-endemic
Present
New Zealand
Political Region

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(Ditmar) Rostaf.
Ditmar
Rostaf.
1875
259
ICN
species
Trichia contorta

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contorta

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Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875

PDD 74929
Fruiting body a sessile (or very rarely short-shalked) sporangium, closely gregarious to scattered, pulvinate or occasionally short-plasmodiocarpous, dull yellowish brown to dark reddish brown, occasionally almost black, 0.5–0.8 mm in diameter. Stalk, when present, black. Hypothallus membranous, colourless to brown, often inconspicuous. Peridium membranous or cartilaginous, more or less thickened with granular material. Capillitium ochraceous or dull yellow, the elaters simple or sometimes branched, 3–5 µm in diameter, bearing 4 or 5 even or irregular spiral bands, smooth or spiny or with long, spine-like processes, the tips often more or less swollen and with one or two curved spines present. Spores bright ochraceous in mass, pale yellow by transmitted light, minutely spiny, 10–13 µm in diameter. Plasmodium watery white.
Widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969). Not reported in print as occurring in New Zealand but known from specimens collected in Taupo, Westland and Fiordland..
Decaying wood or bark; occasionally fruiting on dead leaves, other types of plant debris, and bryophytes.
Martin & Alexopoulos (1969); Nannenga-Bremekamp (1991); Neubert et al. (1993), Lado and Pando (1997), Ing (1999).
Trichia contorta is a highly variable species in which a number of varieties have been recognized (Lado & Pando 1997). However, it can be distinguished from other sessile species of Trichia by the dull yellow-brown to brown colour of mature fruiting bodies, the often rather irregular spiral bands on the elaters, and the spine-like processes sometimes found at the tips of elaters. Interestingly, T. contorta is not uncommon in alpine habitats, although it is not a member of the special ecological group of “snowbank” myxomycetes associated with such habitats in late spring and early summer (Stephenson & Johnston 2003).

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Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. (1875)
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. (1875)
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. (1875)
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. (1875)
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. (1875)

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Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
New Zealand
Fiordland
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
New Zealand
Taupo
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
New Zealand
Wellington
Trichia contorta (Ditmar) Rostaf. 1875
New Zealand
Westland

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8fcaa673-dff2-11d5-bebb-00508bca8de8
scientific name
Names_Fungi
23 November 2001
23 November 2001
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