Image of Stemonitis Gleditsch 1753

Description:

Slo.: nitkarica - Habitat: mixed wood in a mountain ravine, moderately inclined mountain slope, southwest aspect; cretaceous clastic rock (flysh); protected from direct rain by trees canopies and tall herbs, in shade, very humid place; precipitations ~3.000 mm/year, average temperature 8-10 deg C, altitude 450 m (1.500 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: fallen, debarked and completely rotten deciduous tree trunk, hidden in tall herbs. Comment: Habit of this find resembles to some extent to Stemonitis splendens or Stemonitis flavogenita or Stemonitis lignicola. Size, stalk length compared to total length, diameter in relation to the length of sporocarps, slightly bended sporocarps seems to fit within the limits of variability of these species. However, all three species are lignicolous, while this find was fruiting on moss. Only the synoptic key in Ref.5 states that S. flavogenita can occasionally thrive on green plants also (mosses included?). Browsing through my literature moss as a substrate is explicitly mentioned only for Stemonitis herbatica and Stemonitis pallida. Unfortunately, habit of both is not similar to my pictures. Both species are much thicker and shorter and also stalks of both are short compared to total length of sporocarps. Since I haven't done any microscopy and my experience with the habit of these species is very limited this find remains undetermined. Ref.: (1) B. Ing, The Myxomycetes of Britain and Ireland, The Richmond Publ. Co.Ltd, (1999), p 198 (2) S.L.Stephenson and H.Stempen, Myxomycetes, Timber Press Inc.(2000), p 153. (3) M. Poulain, M. Meyer, J. Borronet, Les Myxomycetes, FMBDS (2011), Vol.1., p 538; Vol.2. p 530. (4) Ref.: http://www.hiddenforest.co.nz/slime/family/stemonitidaceae/stemonitidaceae.htm#splendens (5) H. Neubert, W. Nowotny, K. Baumann - H. Marx, Die Myxomyceten Deutschlands und des angrenzenden Alpenraumes unter besonderen Bercksichtigung sterreichs, Vol.3., Karlheinz Baumann Verlag, (2000), p 267.