Cymatoderma elegans Jungh. var. lamellatum (Berk. & M.A.Curtis) D.A.Reid

Common name: None.

Description: This large, wine glass-shaped fungus is commonly up to 30 cm in diameter, although occasional fruiting structures may be even larger. The upper surface is radially ridged and the colour is concentrically zonate in creams and woody browns. The flesh of the cap is very thin and tough or leathery, and the edges of the wine glass are frequently torn or ragged. The under surface is creamy white, more or less smooth but radially ridged and furrowed over its entire surface. The stem is up to 2 cm thick, but is commonly about 0.51.5 cm, solid, tough and dark brown with a velvety surface.

The spores measure 68 × 45 µm and are broadly ellipsoidal, smooth and colourless, but white in mass.

Substratum: Solitary or several together on small, dead branches or logs on the forest floor. Old fruiting bodies may persist for two seasons.

Distribution: Common in rainforest in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Notes: Older fruiting bodies often become filled with leaves and forest debris as well as taking on a green tint as algae grow on the surface. The creamy white undersurface has large numbers of wrinkled folds which increase its surface area. This allows greater spore production. Cymatoderma elegans has been depicted in a set of Fijian stamps.