About Ileodictyon gracile Berk.
Ileodictyon gracile Berk. is a saprotrophic fungus species belonging to the family Phallaceae. It is native to Australia, where it is commonly called the smooth cage fungus. This name refers to its basidiocarps, also known as fruit bodies, which are shaped like a ball made of interlaced, latticed branches. The inner surfaces of these branches are partly covered by a bad-smelling slime layer that holds basidiospores. Ileodictyon gracile closely resembles another Australian native species, Ileodictyon cibarium, and the two are sometimes confused with one another. Both species produce whitish, similarly sized mesh-ball fruit bodies, but they can be told apart by features of the receptacle arms that form the mesh. Compared to I. gracile, I. cibarium has a thicker mesh, with wrinkled, wider arms that are elliptical in cross-section and not thickened at the points where arms meet. Ileodictyon gracile is native to Australia, and its confirmed presence in New Zealand is not recorded. It has also been found in Asian countries including China, India, Japan, and Korea, where it may be an introduced species. In Europe, it is recorded from England, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and it is confirmed to be an introduced species in these locations.
