Pertusaria pertusa, Duror, 29/11/2015

Back onto the lichenised side of life, this is a nice - if common - species with a penchant for big spores - only two per ascus. It came from a small deciduous twig. Fortunately the fact that the apothecia look a bit like perithecia is caught in Dobson and he manages to sweep it back into the fold early in the key.

The Flora notes that subglobose warts with multiple apothecia per wart and two spored asci is pretty much to separate it from other species which might resemble it.

Coniophora puteana under the lens

From Calais Muir, 24/11/2015

I'm still not entirely sure when a "cystidium" is not a cystidium but have a feeling it relates to its origin within the hymenium. The thin elements here, which are not considered cystidiua, I suspect originate from the subiculum - the area below the hymenium, although that could well be wrong!

Long cylindrical basida - c.100u

Olive green and large spores - thick-walled

 

No clamps on basidia

"Cystidial elements"

More thin cyctidia-like elements

Basidium

Microfungi on land plants - Metasphaeria complanata at Calais Muir

On the dead stem of Hogweed these tiny picnidia produced abundant spores when squashed under the microscope. I wish I had tried to retain some of the structure in some of the shots. Maybe next time.

cylindrical spores

Edge of pycnidium

The mouth of the pycnidium

Some internal structures

Microfungi on Land Plants - Puccinia on Silene dioica

Red Campion leaves caught my eye on Friday, with this lovely Puccinia arenariae finding a home on a couple of leaves

Mychorrrrrhyiza

Sure I must have posted this before but I love this mycorrhiza page which lists fungi by host (or vice versa?)

http://www.commanster.eu/commanster/Plants/Trees/Trees/Picea.abies_Amanitaceae_Mycorrhizae.html

Cylindrobasidium laeve, Calais Muir Wood, 14/11/02015

A fairly large patch on two recumbent and decorticated deciduous trunks in Calais Muir Wood, this nice fresh material performed well under the lens. The cylindrical basidia did jump out as being of note with their long form contrasting with fairly short sterigmata. Subulate cystidia were easily found though not superabundant. The spores too are quite characteristic.

Rush Disco

Curiously when you google Rush Disco all you get are matches to the Canadian rock band. So here are some images of Rush Disco Lachnum apalum and Rush's classic tune Tom Sawyer.

Lachum apalum (Dasyscyphus apalus):

Rush, Tom Sawyer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrhnhXHVSQg

Snowy Disco

Who doesn't love a disco? Lachnum virgineum from Mossmorran

 

and under the lens ...

note the blue inoperculate ascus tips in Melzer's

and septate, granular hairs

Trooping of the colour ...

... as long as the colour is brown

Hyphodontia alutaria, Calais Muir Wood, 10/11/2015

Hyphodontia in CNE is a "broad church" with many of those species now being scattered to the four winds, or more than four genera. Bernicchia still has a Hyphodontia s.l. key in the start of the genus section which can divert you to Kneiffiella etc. but when there are septate, capitate cystidia and lagenocystidia you are still in Hyphodontia sensu strictu territory. H.alutaria is a smooth one with plentiful lagenocystidia so feels relatively straightforward to key out. The second picture here shows how generous it can be in terms of displaying its features!

Bryoparasitic Pezizales

A cracking site on Pezizas that love the bryophytes ...

http://www.octospora.de/


And to fill out the linka bit - a Fench ascomycete site ...

 AscoFrance

Calocera pallidospathulata, Calais Muir Wood

What appears to be the first record in Fife as per NBN of a fairly widespread species, this may or may ave not been on a rotten larch stump. It was in an area with larches anyway. These Calocerae are great under the microscope, although perhaps a bit similar to one another (so far - are there surprises?).

Most interesting are the "tuning fork" basidia

Mossmorran Quickie

Cramming in a half hour before dark on Saturday I crossed the corner of the now muddy area that used to be a pool until recently in the hopes that the trees there would contain something interesting. There wasn't a huge lot but I did find a nice jelly rot and some Flammula (Pholiota) alnicola. I initially thought the latter was a Cortinarius with a nice cortina on the small fruit and brown spores, but the lack of spore ornamentation prompted a quick rethink.