Lamproderma splendens
Meyl.
Description:
SPORANGIA: stalked, gregarious or crowded, 1 -2 mm tall, globose to sub basally flattened or umbilicate, 0.8-1.2 mm in diameter.

HYPOTHALLUS: membranous, reddish-brown, usually contiguous for a group of sporangia.

STALK: short, black, 0.3-0.6 mm long and usually thicker at the base.

PERIDIUM: rather persistent, lead gray, silvery to iridescent blue, often with violet or bronze reflections, the lower portion with darker patches, dehiscence irregular, breaking up into unevenly sized pieces.

COLUMELLA: cylindrical reaching to the center of the sporotheca, cylindrical, the tip clavate or not thickened, black, opaque.

CAPILLITIUM: of pale threads, usually pale brown or darker and then only in the middle, arising from the upper part of the columella and branchedand anastomosed to form a dense, irregularly wavy net connected to the peridium, very slender towards the tips.

SPORES: purplish-grey, 8-11 µm diam., minutely spinulose.

PLASMODIUM: white.
HABITAT: Decaying wood, wood debris, and dead leaves

DISTRIBUTION: Cosmopolitan, known from Auckland, Mid Canterbury.
Macro images:
Lamproderma splendens
Scale bar
Scale= 0.8 mm.
 
Lamproderma splendens
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Scale= 1 mm.
 
Lamproderma splendens
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Scale= 1.3 mm.
 
Lamproderma splendens
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Scale= 2 mm.
 
Lamproderma splendens
Scale bar
Scale= 2 mm.
The lovely metallic periduim has rupture allowing the release of the spores.
 
 
Hidden Forest
Slime Moulds