Image of Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. fruticulosa

Description:

Slo.: paliasta hladetinka, rogata sluzavka - syn.: Byssus fruticulosa Mll. - Habitat: Fagus sylvatica forest with some Picea abies; moderately inclined slope at the foot of a mountain, northwest aspect; calcareous, skeletal forest ground; in shade; next to a river, humid air conditions; partly protected from direct rain by tree canopies; average precipitation ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7 - 9 deg C, elevation 525 m (1.720 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: almost totally rotten tree stump; probably Fagus sylvatica, possibly Picea abies. Comment: Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. fruticulosa is one of the most distinctive and wide-spread myxomycetes (nowadays Protosteliomycetes). It is easy to recognize it since nothing similar exists outside tropical regions. Because of its bright white color, it is also easy to spot. Its genus name Ceratiomyxa comes from Greek words keras and myxa. The first means horn(s) and the second slime. And indeed it consists (in most cases) of many erects columns made of slimy substance. Unlike of all other myxomycetes the columns bear individual spores externally, on long stalks (see picture 2b, middle-left). However, it can appear also in a much different form, which is treated by some authors as separate species Ceratiomyxa poroides Alb. & Schwein or a subspecies of Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa. Then it looks like spongy, poroid or effused crust, much similar to some poroid basidiomycetes. The plasmodium of Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa is watery translucent (see picture 2a, slime among developed columns). It initially forms whitish blobs (see picture 1b, upper part), which in mature stage develop into simple or sparsely branched columns covered by stalked, white spores looking similar to glandular hairs of higher plants. Ref.: (1) B. Ing, The Myxomycetes of Britain and Ireland, The Richmond Publ. Co.Ltd, (1999), p 25. (2) S.L.Stephenson and H.Stempen, Myxomycetes, Timber Press Inc.(2000), p 93. (3) M. Poulain, M. Meyer, J. Borronet, Les Myxomycetes, FMBDS (2011), Vol.1., p 297.