Eyelashes down the drain!

[flaxton]

I take it all back British Ascomycetes has the spores as 15-18(20) x 8.5 - 10(12) so mine are not far off at that and I have searched a more mature fruit body and found some up to 15.5

Mal

[flaxton]

Originally Posted by flaxton

The second



has round spores.



It was almost impossible to get a decent picture of the spore ornamentation but in the key many septate hairs is S trechispora and 3-5 septate hairs
like these


is S legaliae.
Any thoughts?

Mal

So I went back for a better specimen.


The two differences between S legaliae and S trechispora are the number of septa in the hairs and this seems to suggest legaliae but the other is the shape of the ornamentation on the spores pointed for legaliae and truncate for trechispora.



There is no way these are pointed so S trechispora it is.

Mal

Ps it is surprising (to me anyway) that there were quite a few oval spores as well as the expected globose ones

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by flaxton

. . . . .

There is no way these are pointed so S trechispora it is.

Mal

(following Schumacher's key) . . . or S. hyperborea . . . . or S. barlae . . . . or S. paludicola . . . . or S. minor

the former is not yet recorded for Britain mind - I'd need to see a bit more of the fungus + measurements to say absolutely definitely trechispora I think

Chris

[mollisia]

Hello,

it is definitely not Scutellinia trechispora, which has perfectly round spores with high warts which are like those shown above of Sc. legaliae, but with a cut tip. So the spore looks like a cog wheel.
The spores of your Scutellinia are not perfectly round, at least many of them are not (I suppose ...), and the spore ornamentation is of rounded isolated warts. This would very well fit for Scutellinia minor, which is a species growing on loamy soil and never on wood (as far as I know it).

But you definetely need to measure some spores and - very important - the hair length. There is a yet undescribed species, which looks similar to Sc. minor, but has longer hairs up to 550 µm and also a multifurcate base (and some minor differences in spore sculpture and measurements too). This Sc. heterosphaera (so will be its name) was found in France, Spain, Italy and Germany. One of the authors of this species showed it to me in France this spring.

best regards,
Andreas

[flaxton]

The first viewing of the spores still in situ but without the aid of LCB showed what looked like peg projections and globose spores. When I got spores into the stain there were far more ovate specimens and it showed the ornamentation to be rounded.
We will see what Chris thinks when he examines the specimens.
Oh did I forget to tell you Chris they are in the post

Mal

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by flaxton

. . . . .
Oh did I forget to tell you Chris they are in the post

Mal

bless you Mal!

[flaxton]

Originally Posted by mollisia

Hello,

it is definitely not Scutellinia trechispora, which has perfectly round spores with high warts which are like those shown above of Sc. legaliae, but with a cut tip. So the spore looks like a cog wheel.



best regards,
Andreas

Like this???


I have a horrible feeling that when I went back to get a better specimen I found a different species

Mal

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by flaxton

Like this???


I have a horrible feeling that when I went back to get a better specimen I found a different species

Mal

I promise I shall get round to looking at the one you've sent me, Mal - the above sure looks like S. trechispora

this all goes to show how difficult this mycology lark is . . . it has not been unknown for later workers to look at the type material of some species and find that there is a mixed collection . . . . for example, it is always an idea when you find Geoglossum specimens to collect several as different species frequently grow together but macroscopically all look the same

it also goes to show how reprehensible it is of producers of popular guides which include "Scutellinia scutellata" not to point out that there are many similar species

cheers

Chris