Didymium nigripes

Fungus / parasite
colony of Aphanocladium anamorph of Nectriopsis sporangiicola parasitises sporangium of Didymium nigripes

Fungus / parasite
colony of Verticillium anamorph of Verticillium rexianum parasitises sporangium of Didymium nigripes

Didymium nigripes (Link) Fries, Syst. Myc. 3: 119. 1829
Physarum nigripes Link, Ges. Nat. Freunde Berlin Mag. 3: 27. 1809.
Physarum microcarpon Fries, Symb. Gast. 23, as syn. 1818.
Didymium microcephalum Chev. Fung. & Byss. 111. /. 2. 1837.
Didymium porphyropus Dur. & Mont.; Durieu, Fl. Alger. Bot. 1: 409. 1848.
Didymium microcarpon Rost. Monog. 157. 1874.
Didimium tenue Pat. & Gaill. Bull. Soc. Myc. Fr. 4: 96. 1888.
Sporangia gregarious, stalked, globose or hemispheric, somewhat umbilicate beneath, 0.3-0.5 mm. in diameter, the total height up to 1.5 mm.; peridium smoky, covered with white calcareous crystals; columella dark brown, subglobose, calcareous within; stalk slender, erect, dark brown, shining, translucent; hypothallus scutate, black; capillitium delicate, the threads pale or colorless, bearing occasional thickenings, sparingly branched ; spores dark in mass, pale
violaceous by transmitted light, minutely warted, 7-10 ^ in diameter; Plasmodium gray or colorless.
Type locality: Germany.
Habitat: Dead leaves, herbaceous stems, and twigs, less commonly on wood. Distribution: Throughout North America; cosmopolitan.