Contents
Stemonitis axial (Stemonitis axifera) is an amazing organism belonging to the Stemonite family and the genus Stemontis. It was first described and named Volos by the axial French mycologist Buillard in 1791. Later, at the end of the XNUMXth century, Thomas McBride attributed it to Stemonitis, which classification has survived to this day.
This species is a myxomycete, showing signs of the animal and plant kingdoms at different stages of its development.
Stemonitis axial coral red
Where does Stemonitis axialus grow?
This unique organism is a recognized cosmopolitan. Distributed throughout the globe, with the exception of the polar and circumpolar regions. In Our Country, it can be found everywhere, especially in the taiga. Settles on the remains of dead wood: fallen rotting trunks and stumps, deadwood, coniferous and deciduous waste, thin twigs.
Begins to appear in forests and parks at the end of June, continues to grow until late autumn. The peak of development falls on the period from early August to mid-September. An interesting feature of these organisms is the ability of Plasmodium to move at an average speed of 1 cm per hour and freeze, covered with a dry crust, as soon as the external environment becomes too dry. Then the fruiting bodies begin to grow, inside which spores develop. Ripening, they leave the thinned shell, spread around the neighborhood.
Stemonitis axialis one of the slime molds and has a very characteristic appearance.
What does stemonitis axial look like?
Plasmodium developing from spores are white or light yellow, greenish-light green in color. Only the fruiting bodies that have appeared from plasmodia are spherical in appearance, white or yellowish-olive in color, collected in close groups.
In the initial stage of development, the organism looks like white or yellowish caviar.
As they develop, the fruiting bodies take on a characteristic stamen-like, pointed-cylindrical shape. Individual specimens reach 2 cm in height, on average, their length ranges from 0,5 to 1,5 cm. The surface is smooth, as if translucent, at first white or light yellow with a greenish tinge.
At the very beginning of development, sporangia are snow-white, translucent
It then becomes amber yellow, orange ocher, coral red and dark chocolate. The brown-red or ash-colored spore powder covering the surface makes it velvety and crumbles easily. The legs are black, varnish-shiny, thin, like hairs, grow up to 0,7 cm.
Is it possible to eat stemonitis axial
The mushroom is classified as an inedible species due to its small size and unattractive appearance. Studies on their nutritional value and taste, as well as safety for the human body, have not been conducted.
Stemonitis axial settles on dead wood in separate, but closely knit groups.
Conclusion
Stemonitis axialis is a representative of a unique class of “animal mushrooms”. It can be found in forests and parks in every corner of the planet except for the Arctic and Antarctic. It grows from mid-summer to late autumn, until the first frost hits. Assigned to inedible species, there are no data on poisonous or toxic substances in its composition in open sources. Different types of stemonitis are very similar to each other; it is impossible to distinguish them without a laboratory study.
