Coelho IL, Stephenson SL 2012 -Myxomycetes associated with pipevine, a temperate liana. Mycosphere 3(2), 245-249, Doi 10.5943 /mycosphere/3/2/8 Pinevine (Aristolochia macrophylla Lam.), a climbing woody vine native to temperate forests of eastern North America, is morphologically similar to many of the lianas characteristic of moist tropical forests. In August 2010, samples of dead pinevine collected from a study site in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were used to prepare a series of 50 moist chamber cultures. Thirtyseven of the 50 cultures (74%) yielded evidence (either plasmodia or fruiting bodies) of myxomycetes. Fourteen species representing seven genera were recorded, with members of the Trichiales (41% of all records) and Physarales (49% of all records) the most abundant

Coelho Il

Stephenson Sl

Steven L Stephenson

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Mycosphere Doi 10.5943/mycosphere/3/2/8 
245 
Myxomycetes associated with pipevine, a temperate liana 
 
 
 
Coelho IL
1 
and Stephenson SL
1* 
 
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701  
 
Coelho IL, Stephenson SL 2012 – Myxomycetes associated with pipevine, a temperate liana. 
Mycosphere 3(2), 245–249, Doi 10.5943 /mycosphere/3/2/8 
 
Pinevine (Aristolochia macrophylla Lam.), a climbing woody vine native to temperate forests of 
eastern North America, is morphologically similar to many of the lianas characteristic of moist 
tropical forests. In August 2010, samples of dead pinevine collected from a study site in the Great 
Smoky Mountains National Park were used to prepare a series of 50 moist chamber cultures. Thirty-
seven of the 50 cultures (74%) yielded evidence (either plasmodia or fruiting bodies) of 
myxomycetes. Fourteen species representing seven genera were recorded, with members of the 
Trichiales (41% of all records) and Physarales (49% of all records) the most abundant. 
 
Key words – Great Smoky Mountains National Park – moist chamber cultures – slime moulds – 
woody vine  
 
Article Information  
Received 13 April 2012 
Accepted 19 April 2012 
Published online 30 April 2012 
*Corresponding author: Steven L. Stephenson – e-mail – slsteph@uark.edu 
 
Introduction 
Woody vines (usually called lianas) are 
common and often conspicuous features of 
moist tropical forests throughout the world. 
However, only recently (Lado et al. 2003, 
Nieves-Rivera et al. 2003, Wrigley de Basanta 
et al. 2008, Ko Ko et al. 2010) have the 
myxomycetes associated with this microhabitat 
been investigated. Based on the results 
obtained in the relatively few studies that have 
been carried out, lianas appear to support a 
diverse assemblage of myxomycetes. Lianas 
are not a particularly common feature of the 
temperate forests of eastern and central North 
America, but various species of Vitis 
(grapevine) are consistently present in forests 
throughout the entire region, especially low-
elevation forests that have been subjected to 
some degree of disturbance. The bark from 
grapevines has long been recognized as a 
productive substrate for myxomycetes (e.g., 
Keller & Brooks 1976, Everhart et al. 2008).    
Pipevine (Aristolochia macrophylla 
Lam.), also called Dutchman’s-pipe, is another 
climbing woody vine native to eastern North 
America, where is occurs from Georgia and 
Alabama to southern Canada. Pipevine, which 
is much less common than grapevine, is 
generally associated with relatively moist, mid- 
to high-elevation broadleaf forests. Both 
grapevine and pipevine are morphologically 
similar to many of the lianas characteristic of 
moist tropical forests, but this similarity is 
more apparent for pipevine because of its 
generally more twining habit and the frequent 
occurrence of multiple adjacent stems (Fig. 1).  
The objectives of the study reported 
herein were (1) to characterize the assemblage 
of species of myxomycetes associated with 
pipevine and (2) to compare this assemblage 
with those reported in other studies that have 
examined the myxomycetes associated with 
tropical lianas. The present study was carried 
out in the context of an ongoing effort to 
 
Mycosphere Doi 10.5943/mycosphere/3/2/8 
246 
 
document the myxomycetes of the Great 
Smoky Mountains National Park as part of the 
All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (Landolt & 
Stephenson 2007). 
 
Methods 
In August 2010, samples consisting of 
short (ca 4 to 6 cm) sections of dead pinevine 
were collected from a study site in the Balsam 
Mountains portion (35° 32’ 53’ N, 83° 10’ 02” 
W; elevation 1,550 m) of the Great Smoky 
Mountains National Park in western North 
Carolina. These samples were transported to 
the laboratory at the University of Arkansas 
and then used to prepare 50 moist chamber 
cultures in the manner described by Stephenson 
and Stempen (1994). The moist chamber 
cultures consisted of disposable plastic Petri 
dishes (100 mm diam.) lined with filter paper 
and containing the sections of dead pipevine. 
The sample material was moistened with 
distilled water. After a period of approximately 
24 hours, the pH of each culture was measured 
using a flat plate electrode and an Orion model 
610 pH meter. After pH had been determined, 
excess water in each Petri dish was removed. 
Moist chamber cultures were kept at room 
temperature (22–25º C) in diffuse daylight and 
examined with a stereomicroscope on a regular 
basis for a period of up to three months. When 
necessary, a small amount of water was added 
to each culture to maintain moist conditions. 
Myxomycete plasmodia and/or fruiting bodies 
were noted and recorded each time the cultures 
were checked. All fruiting bodies were 
removed, air-dried and then glued in small 
pasteboard boxes for permanent storage. These 
are deposited in the mycological herbarium 
(UARK) of the University of Arkansas.  
 
Results  
Thirty-seven of the 50 (74%) moist 
chamber cultures prepared with samples of 
pipevine yielded some evidence of myxo-
mycetes (either plasmodia or fruiting bodies). 
Fourteen species representing seven genera 
were recorded, with members of the Trichiales 
(41% of all records) and Physarales (49% of all 
records) the most abundant. In the list that 
follows, these species are arranged 
alphabetically by genus and then species. 
Numbers of collections, along with the pH 
recorded for cultures in which the species in 
question appeared, are indicated in parentheses 
for each species. In addition, comments are 
included for any particularly noteworthy or 
questionable specimens. Nomenclature essen-
tially follows Lado (2005–2012). The 
abbreviation ‘cf.’ in the name of a species 
indicates that the specimen representing the 
source of the record could not be identified 
with certainty. This indicates that the material 
examined was scanty or aberrant.  
 
Arcyria cinerea (Bull.) Pers. (10 records, pH 
6.7–7.8) 
 Comments – This species is one of the 
most common and widespread of all 
myxomycetes (Martin & Alexopoulos 1969), 
so its occurrence on all types of lianas would 
not be unexpected. 
 
Cribraria violacea Rex (1 record, pH 7.0) 
 
Licea biforis Morgan (1 record, pH 7.0) 
 
Lycogala epidendrum (L.) Fries (3 records, pH 
6.7–7. 7) 
 
Perchaena chrysosperma (Curr.) Lister (8 
records, pH 6.6–7.8) 
 Comments – This species was one of 
the more abundant species recorded on lianas 
by Ko Ko et al. (2010) in northern Thailand. 
 
Perichaena depressa Lib. (4 records, pH 6.6–
7.5) 
 
Perichaena quadrata T. Macbr. (4 records, pH 
6.4–6.7) 
 
Perichaena cf. vermicularis (Schw.) Rost. (1 
record, pH 7.4) 
 Comments – Our identification of this 
collection is problematic because the material 
available was both limited and in poor 
condition. However, the features that could be 
observed suggest this species. 
 
Physarum cinereum (Batsch) Pers. (4 records, 
Mycosphere Doi 10.5943/mycosphere/3/2/8/ 
247 
 
Fig. 1 – Stems of pipevine (indicated by the arrows) in a broadleaf forest in the Great Smoky 
Mountains National Park. 
 
pH 6.5–6.7) 
 
Physarum compressum Alb. & Schwein. (4 
records, pH 6.6–7.3) 
 
Physarum crateriforme Petch (3 records, pH 
7.2–7.3) 
 
Physarum didermoides (Pers.) Rostaf. (6 
records, pH 6.5–7.7) 
 
Physarum pusillum (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) G. 
Lister (15 records, pH 6.5–7.3) 
Comments – This species appears to be 
one of the myxomycetes most commonly 
associated with the liana microhabitat, based 
on both the number of collections recorded in 
the present study and data reported by Wrigley 
de Basanta et al. (2008). 
 
Stemonitis nigrescens Rex (2 records, pH 6.7–
7.7) 
 Comments – Stemonitis nigrescens is 
not always recognized as distinct from S. fusca 
Roth, but the former commonly occurs in moist 
chamber cultures, whereas the latter is usually 
collected in the field, where it is almost 
invariably associated with coarse woody debris 
(Martin & Alexopoulos 1969).  
 
Discussion 
Wrigley de Basanta et al. (2008) 
reported data for a series of studies of lianas 
carried out in six different areas of the world—
Australia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and 
Puerto Rico. Each of these studies used the 
moist chamber culture technique to investigate 
the assemblages of myxomycetes associated 
with lianas. Numbers of species recovered in a 
particular study ranged from 15 to 29 (mean = 
22), and 78 to 100% (mean = 87%) of moist 
chamber cultures were positive. Ko Ko et al. 
(2010) carried out a similar study in one area of 
northern Thailand. They recorded 30 species 
from a total of 240 moist chamber cultures 
prepared with samples of dead lianas and living 
lianas collected at two heights above the 
ground. For any particular set of samples (e.g., 
dead lianas near the ground), numbers of 
species recorded ranged from 10 to 20 (mean = 
Mycosphere Doi 10.5943/mycosphere/3/2/8 
248 
13), and the mean percentage of positive 
cultures was 57% (range of 43 to 70). When all 
these data are compared with the results 
obtained in the present study, it appears that the 
assemblage of myxomycetes associated with 
pipevine is fairly comparable to those found on 
lianas in the tropics. Moreover, although the 
percentage of positive cultures reported in 
some instances for moist chamber cultures of 
tropical lianas was higher than the figure (74%) 
we obtained, the latter actually exceeds the 
percentages reported by Ko Ko et al. (2010). 
There is one other factor that should be 
considered in any comparison of data from 
different studies. In the present study we 
examined only a single species of liana, 
whereas it seems very likely that samples were 
collected from several different species of 
lianas in each of the studies carried out in the 
tropics.  
The mean pH for the 50 moist chamber 
cultures prepared in the present study was 6.8 
(range 6.4 to 8.0). Similar data were not 
obtained in all of the other studies noted above, 
but the mean pH was 7.0 (range of 5.4 to 8.5) 
for those moist chamber cultures for which this 
parameter was determined.  These data suggest 
that both pipevine and tropical lianas are 
characterized by a comparable pH. Intere-
stingly, a pH of 6.8 is relatively higher than the 
values that have been reported for many of the 
broadleaf trees that make up the forests in 
which pipevine occurs (Stephenson 1989, 
Everhart et al. 2008). 
Ko Ko et al. (2010) reported that 
members of the order Trichiales and Physarales 
were the predominant myxomycetes occurring 
on lianas, with the latter making up 71% of the 
total number of collections from lianas with 
rough-furrowed bark. Wrigley de Basanta et al. 
(2008) indicated that the genus Physarum 
(which belongs to the Physarales) alone 
accounted for 29% of all of the species 
recorded from lianas. Our data, in which 
members of the Trichiales (41% of all records) 
and Physarales (49% of all records) were the 
most abundant, certainly conform to this 
general pattern. 
As a general observation, most of the 
species of myxomycetes associated with lianas 
in the present study also were reported by 
Wrigley de Basanta et al. (2008) and/or Ko Ko 
et al. (2010). The two exceptions were 
Lycogala epidendrum and Perichaena 
quadrata. Lycogala epidendrum rarely appears 
in moist chamber cultures, so the appearance of 
several small aethalia on samples of pipevine 
was totally unexpected. Perichaena quadrata is 
not always recognized as distinct from P. 
depressa, so it is possible that it might have 
been included with records of the latter species 
in the other studies. 
In summary, pipevine appears to 
represent a microhabitat for myxomycetes in 
temperate forests that is not too different from 
that provided by morphologically similar lianas 
in tropical forests. Moreover, the assemblages 
of species involved in each instance are 
somewhat similar with respect to both 
abundance and diversity, with many of the 
same species shared in common. 
 
Acknowledgements 
The research described herein was 
supported in part by a grant (DLIA2010-03) 
from Discover Life in America for a project 
entitled “Diversity of myxomycetes and algae 
associated with the soils of different forest 
types in the Great Smoky Mountains National 
Park." 
 
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Myxomycetes associated with pipevine, a temperate liana

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Myxomycetes associated with pipevine, a temperate liana

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