A soil mold and the type species of Phialomyces, described from soil in a geothermal area near Rotorua, New Zealand, and also isolated from sal forest soil in India. Colonies start bright yellow and become velvety greyish-olive. Long, sparsely branched stalks end in small clusters of short-necked phialides, which produce long chains of large, dark brown, warted spores; these features set it apart from the similar Paecilomyces.
Not edible; a microscopic soil mold. No toxicity documented.
Never eat a wild mushroom based on a web page — confirm with an expert.
Mycology is an evolving science: names, classifications and safety information change as research advances. Entries are compiled from cited sources and reviewed, but may be incomplete or out of date — check the sources, and never rely on this library alone to identify or eat a mushroom.
Habitat
Help build this page
This page grows with the community. Here is what it is still missing:
Photos. None yet — moderators review each photo before it appears.Sign in to add a photo
Sightings. Spotted it in the wild? Add it to the map.Open the map
Strains. No public strains of this species on WeMush yet.
Track Your Own Phialomyces macrosporus Grows
Join WeMush to log cultivation data, discover strains, and connect with fellow growers.
Soil, including soil of geothermal areas (though cultures were not markedly heat-loving), and sal (Shorea robusta) forest soil.
Distribution
New Zealand (type, near Rotorua, 1961) and India (Gorakhpur, 1962). A wider range was not documented in the sources checked.
Characteristics
Colonies: on Czapek-Dox yeast agar bright yellow at first, later velvety and greyish-olive, with yellow pigment diffusing into the medium. Conidiophores (phialophores): mostly unbranched or sparsely branched, up to about 1 mm long, ending in clusters of 1-3 (rarely 5) phialides. Phialides: usually in a single whorl, with a short, fairly wide neck. Conidia: in basipetal chains of up to 26; mostly fusiform-ellipsoid and pointed at both ends, some subspherical, yellow-brown to dark brown with irregular warts, about 15-26 µm.
