Pseudotomentella larsenii

The fruitbody is a sheet-like growth that appears on the underside of dead wood lying on the  ground. The sheet is loosely attached and has the consistency of a very dense cobweb. The fertile, spore-bearing surface is grey, violaceous grey or purplish grey; the rest of the fruitbody is darker (deep greyish purple to blackish purple).

The species was first described in 2001, based on specimens collected in Western Australia.

Look-alikes

Species of Amaurodon (a related genus) also produce dense-cobwebby fruitbodies that are bluish to violaceous – but they becomes yellowish-green in dry conditions, whereas there is no colour change in Pseudotomentella larsenii. Some other fungi produce dark purplish, cobwebby,  sheet-like growths, but without the contrasting, paler surface.