Calostoma rodwayi

Image © Ian R. McCann Reproduced by permission Common Name: None

Calostoma rodwayi is a puffball with bright red, lobed mouth to mesoperidium, on short gelatinous stem (to 25 mm long). Outer layer does not fall away in one piece (as in C. fuscum), but flakes away, often leaving warts on mesoperidium. Only under Nothofagus.

• Fruit body

  A stalked puffball with the stem made up of strands of brown, seaweed-like mycelium. The puffball top or peridium is a rich brown. Its outer skin [exoperidium] flakes off in irregular patches, unlike C. fuscum whose outer skin comes off as an entire little cap. In the centre of the peridium is a raised, brilliant scarlet-orange "mouth", in some specimens resembling a tiny gingerbread man.

• Peridium

  Peridium like a depressed globe. 10-20 mm diameter. 3 layered, the outer layer of gelatinised mycelium, the inner layer rather tough, brown with black warts. Spores are released from the central 5-7 lobed, scarlet mouth. The spore sac inside of the peridium hangs from the mouth like an inverted bubble.

• Stipe/stem

  Stem 30-60 mm high, 10-20 mm wide.

• Smell

• Spores

• Habitat

  In wet native woodland or tropical rainforest.

• References

  Aberdeen, J.E.C. [1979]. An Introduction to the Mushrooms, Toadstools and Larger Fungi of Queensland. Queensland Naturalists' Club. p 9.

  Grgurinovic, C., & Mallett, K. [Eds.] [1996]. Fungi of Australia. Volume 1A: Introduction - Classification. ABRS/CSIRO, Australia. p. xxi, 196 info

Distribution map

Last modified on 28 May 2001

Maintained by Mike McBain

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