Elaeomyxa cerifera

Description pretty iridescent blues, greens, purples and golds atop a waxy collar on a dark stem are quite a surprise to find in the gloom of the forest.                                                  There is no calcium carbonate present on the peridium as needles or crystals, nor is there any in the capillitium. 

Sporotheca subglobose to ovoid 0.5-.07mm diameter.

Stalk brown maturing to black 0.2-0.8mm tall, furrowed in length, waxy collar around apex directly beneath sporothecea.

Hypothallus inconspicuous.

Peridium membranous, iridescent, dehiscence petaloid.

Columella appears more as an extension of the stalk, yet still the base of the sporothecea.

Capillitium arises from the columella, rigid with pale tips and no wax..

Spores black in mass, grey by transmitted light, 10-13µm diameter.

Plasmodium brownish-purple. 

Habitat On wet advanced decaying wood with bryophytes.