I first noticed a slate grey plasmodium ooze out of a large bryophyte-covered on 16 August 2014 so I set up the tripod and started capturing the changing colour as it formed sporangia. Unfortunately, there was heavy rain while the sporangia were developing and many were spoiled. However, more of the plasmodium appeared lower down the stump on the following days so although the series doesn’t depict the same developing sporangia in each photograph, I tried to get a series that showed the changing colour and the development of the peridial net. The hypothallus changed colour from grey to orange; sporangia also turned orange and then light brown.
As can be seen in the photograph dated 25 Aug. 2014, some of the sporangia did not mature properly (they were black) because of the rain.
The densely crowded stalked sporangia were 1.5 mm high with 0.6 mm diameter globose sporothecae. The 0.9 mm long stalks were longitudinally striate. As with many Cribraria species, identification was difficult, made more so because of the rain while it was developing.
Tasmanian Myxomycetes 