Stemonitidaceae.
Class Myxogastria > Family Stemonitidaceae (the only family).
Stemonitidaceae has 17 genera including Comatricha, Stemonitis and Stemonitopsis.
These are slime moulds that grow, usually in clumps, on dead wood.
The fruiting bodies, sometimes on stalks, are from a few mms up to 2 cm high.
The spore forming sporangia, commonly brown, are typically round or sausage-shaped.
Each consists of a tangled mass of threads (the capillitium) among which the spores develop.
The capillitium is contained in a membranous wall or perithecium.
The stalk sometimes extends into the sporangium as the columella.
The spores are usually dark brown, reddish or black.
Species within some genera can be very difficult to distinguish.
Stemonitis splendens has purplish-brown fruit bodies up to 1 or 2 cm high.
It is common in Queensland.
J.F.
