Chocolate tube slime mold

Appearance

Sporocarps tufted, 10-15(-25) mm total height. Sporothecae dark brown with a reddish tinge. Hypothallus silvery, shining, confluent. Stalk 1-4 mm long, shining black. Columella black, almost reaching the sporotheca apex, tapered and flexuous towards the tip. Capillitium brown and with a metallic glint, the primary branches expanded at the junctions within the net and arising at right angles to the columella, hardly branched thus only weakly supporting the surface net which usually collapses onto the columella soon after spore-dispersal, the surface net with large, rounded meshes, 20-50(-100) µm diam. Spore-mass dark reddish-brown. Spores lilac-brown, 7-9 µm diam., almost smooth with fine, pale warts. Plasmodium white or pale yellow.

Naming

Stemonitis splendens Rostaf. 1875

Distribution

Widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions; Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America; Antigua, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, England, Guadeloupe, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Madagascar, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Trinidad, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela; Galapagos Isls., Great Britain, Hawaii, Juan Fernandes, U. S. Virgin Isls.