''Stemonitis'' is a distinctive

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

slime mould Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to several kinds of unrelated eukaryotic organisms with a life cycle that includes a free-living single-celled stage and the formation of spores. Spores are often produced in macroscopic mu ...

s found throughout the world (except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

). They are characterised by the tall brown

sporangia A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cy ...

, supported on slender stalks, which grow in clusters on rotting

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

. The genus was first described by German botanist

Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (5 February 1714, in Leipzig – 5 October 1786, in Berlin) was a German physician and botanist known for pioneer investigations of plant sexuality and reproduction. Biography He studied medicine and other subjects a ...

in 1753. A 2014 estimate suggests that there are 18 species in the genus. Identification within the genus is difficult, and can only be performed with confidence using a

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

or by

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

. A fossil specimen (in

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

) is known from the mid-

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

(99 ma).

Species

The following species are accepted by ''Species Fungorum'': *''

Stemonitis axifera ''Stemonitis axifera'' is a species of slime mold. It fruits in clusters on dead wood, and has distinctive tall reddish-brown sporangia, supported on slender stalks. Taxonomy The species was first described as ''Trichia axifera'' by Jean Baptist ...

'' (Bull.) T.Macbr. (1889) *'' Stemonitis farrensis'' T. N. Lakh. & Mukerji (1977) *'' Stemonitis ferruginea'' Ehrenb. (1818) *'' Stemonitis flavogenita'' E. Jahn (1904) *'' Stemonitis foliicola'' Ing (1967) *''

Stemonitis fusca ''Stemonitis fusca'' is a species of slime mold. It fruits in clusters on dead wood and has distinctive tall brown sporangia A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single ...

'' Roth (1787) *'' Stemonitis graciliformis'' Nann.-Bremek., Mukerji & Pasricha (1984) *'' Stemonitis herbatica'' Peck (1874) *'' Stemonitis inconspicua'' Nann.-Bremek. (1966) *'' Stemonitis laxifila'' Nann.-Bremek. & Y. Yamam. (1988) *'' Stemonitis lignicola'' Nann.-Bremek. (1973) *'' Stemonitis marjana'' Y. Yamam. (2000) *'' Stemonitis mediterraneensis'' H.H. Doğan & Eroğlu (2014) *''

Stemonitis mussooriensis ''Stemonitis'' is a distinctive genus of slime moulds found throughout the world (except Antarctica). They are characterised by the tall brown sporangia, supported on slender stalks, which grow in clusters on rotting wood. The genus was first des ...

'' G. W. Martin, K. S. Thind & Sohi (1957) *'' Stemonitis nigrescens'' Rex (1891) *'' Stemonitis pallida'' Wingate (1899) *'' Stemonitis rhizoideipes'' Nann.-Bremek., R. Sharma & K. S. Thind (1984) *'' Stemonitis smithii'' T.Macbr. (1893) *'' Stemonitis splendens'' Rostaf. (1875) *'' Stemonitis virginiensis'' Rex (1891)

References

External links

* Myxogastria Amoebozoa genera {{Amoebozoa-stub