Fuligo rufa  -  John Webb

Fuligo rufa Pers. Neues Mag.Bot.1: 88, 1794. Europe. Syn. Fuligo septica var rufa [Pers.] .E. Fr. Sporocarps aethalia, pulvinate, to 20 cm in dia. To 3 cm thick, terra-cotta, brick-red to orange. Hypothallus many layered, foamy white. Cortex two distinct layers crumbling away in large pieces. Internal peridia colourless or pale pin. Capillitium elastic network colourless tubes connecting spindly reddish-brown nodes. Spores mass dark brown, transmitted light pale lilac-grey, 6-7µm dia. finely warted. Plasmodium yellow. Habitat rotten wood particularly stumps, exposed sunny sites. Source of description: 'The Myxomycetes of Britain and Ireland, An Identification Handbook'. Bruce Ing. Publishers 1999, Richmond. A first sighting of one of the larger myxomycete, which though not uncommon, is, ‘scattered mainly in the south’. Possibly as is often with the aethalia form of sporocarp, finding one in near pristine condition is uncommon, due, it seems to me, to the fragility of the peridium and the propensity for ‘fungivores’. This particular specimen was approximately 150x70cms, well above the norm. One other record from VC63 of F. rufa is in Bramley as a variant of F. septica, though Bramley did recognise, albeit in parentheses [now treated as a full species]. Reference: 'A Fungus Flora of Yorkshire 1995', W. G. Bramley, Publisher: Yorkshire Naturalists' Union.   John

 

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This page last updated 06/03/2008.