Stemonitis
Dark Fadenkeulchen ( Stemonitis fusca ), the type species of the genus
Stemonitis on German also sometimes called Fadenstäublinge, is a genus of slime molds from the order Stemonitida.
Features
The fructifications are stalked and elongated cylindrically shaped. They grow crowded or bunched in groups. The membranous base ( Hypothallus ) is a membrane-like and well developed. It is common among individual fruit bodies. The stem is hollow and present in all species. In transmitted light it appears red-brown to black-brown. He always goes on in the columella. This usually progresses to the tip of the fruiting bodies, where they usually branches into the scalp. In transmitted light, the columella also appear reddish brown to black.
The shell peridium vanishes at the maturity of the fruit body and is rarely to be seen. The scalp arises from the entire length of the columella. It forms a more or less wide-mesh, three-dimensional network and appears dark to light brown in transmitted light. At the branching points of the fibers often run wide on each other. At the surface of the scalp turns into a two-dimensional network.
The spores appear rusty brown or dark brown to black in mass, violet-brown in transmitted light, gray-brown, brown, reddish brown to almost colorless. The Plasmodium is white, yellow or green-yellow colored.
The type species is the Dark Fadenkeulchen ( Stemonitis fusca ).
Species delimitation
The genera Stemonitopsis, Stemonaria and Comatricha are related to Stemonitis close. The latter has always typical hollow, homogeneous stems and a complete surface mesh. In Stemonaria and Comatrichia a fragmented surface mesh is present and none at Stemonitopsis. The stem is fibrous in Comatrichia and Stemonitopsis, usually homogeneous at stemonaria.
System
The genus comprises about 20 species worldwide Stemonitis. For Central Europe around ten types are specified:
- Stemonitis axifera
- Stemonitis favoginea
- Stemonitis foliicola
- Stemonitis fusca
- Stemonitis herbatica
- Stemonitis laxifila
- Stemonitis lignicola
- Stemonitis pallida
- Stemonitis smithii
- Stemonitis splendens