Tiny Orange Discs & Cups (ID Query)

[Lancashire Lad]

Found these today, growing together on an area of land consisting of now very dry, but what was muddy spoil, transported and dumped here from another part of the woods late last year.

I'm not sure if these are two distinct species, as although a number of separate colonies were found, each several metres from the last, every location, contained both the flat discs and cups mixed together.

A typical colony.

The flat discs look very much like an eyelash species - the margins do have very very short hairs. The largest of these discs were no more than 4mm across.

The cups were sessile, with a finely granular appearance to the external surfaces. no signs of hairs on the margins. The largest of the cups being no more than 6mm across.




Can't find anything similar in my books and would appreciate any steer towards possible ID(s).

Regards,
Mike.

[The Woodman]

Melastiza chateri or Orange peel fungus - Aleuria aurantia although that's usually larger?

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Melastiza chateri or Orange peel fungus - Aleuria aurantia although that's usually larger?

Definitely not Aleuria aurantia - I've seen that many times at various stages of growth.

I did consider Orange Cup as a likely suspect- Melastiza chateri (syn. M.cornubiensis). and must admit that this does look like photos I've seen of that.

But none of the cups I saw has any signs of the "conspicuously hairy margin" that M.chateri is supposed to have - "margin prominent and covered in small tufts of brown hairs".

M.chateri is the closest match I can find in any of my books - if only these examples had hairy chins

Regards,
Mike.

[Chris Yeates]

hi Mike

almost certainly Melastiza cornubiensis;the hairs are often very short - though it's always a good idea to check microscopically: did you collect some?

in my experience M. cornubiensis can often occur in quantity when soil has been disturbed - along forest tracks etc.

cheers

Chris

PS this could quite happily have been posted on the micro-fungi thread

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi Chris,

Am I right in thinking that there is only one fungus here then - with the cups being a more advanced stage of the discs?

Yes I did collect some, as I now occasionally have access to a microscope, and was thinking of trying my luck with these.

Is there anything other than hairs (as an outright novice in that field) I might be able to find under a microscope that would clinch the ID?

(Out of interest, I certainly couldn't find any hairs under a x20 hand lens).

Regards,
Mike.

[Lancashire Lad]

Just found some information & images on MycoKey and Micologia.net that I'm satisfied confirms what I've got as M.cornubiensis.

There is a photo which is nigh-on identical to one of the cups that I brought home.

Apparently the species has protruding asci on the margin, so I'll try to get hold of the microscope and see if I can find any.

Regards,
Mike.

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by Lancashire Lad

Hi Chris,

Is there anything other than hairs (as an outright novice in that field) I might be able to find under a microscope that would clinch the ID?

Regards,
Mike.

the spores are very distinctive with a raised network of ornamentation which stains well in Cotton Blue; the hairs should be made up of a few brown cells separated by septa, and have rounded tips

have fun

Chris

[Lancashire Lad]

OK - Don't all laugh at once - here are the pics I managed to get from my microscope encounter earlier today: -



I think that what I saw proves that the fungus is indeed Melastiza cornubiensis, (although the photos don't seem to show things anywhere near as clearly as they seemed to be under the scope).

The asci are plain enough to see, but I didn't have any cotton blue, so tried with some red dye and the ornamentation on the spores did become slightly visible. - I've put arrows on the third photo which I think just about manages to show this on a couple of the spores.

The hairs certainly have rounded ends, but I couldn't say for certain that I had seen any definite septa.

However, as I don't really know one end of a microscope from the other, I'm afraid this was the best I could do.

I think I shall have to content myself as to being more of a photographer than a microscopist.

Regards,
Mike.

[Chris Yeates]

no - stick with it; these are OK for a relative beginner

what you have here is the asci with rather immature spores and the paraphyses with their swollen ends (dead right for M. cornubiensis btw) and orange contents (that's what give the fungus its coloration); I don't see any hairs here though . . .

cheers

Chris