Episphaeria fraxinicola, Lochgelly 31st March 2016

This little faker makes you think it's a discomycete and then ... boom! A basidium heaves into view!

It's a lover of ash as the name implies, and that's where this was found too

Hysterium angustatum

From the Lothians

Phoma (Metasphaeria) complanata, Dumbarnie Links

on Heracleum

Another hyphomycete - Ascodichaena rugosa

With all the twig-bothering that's going on related to lichens and pyrenomycetes you can't help running into hyphomycetes. This one took a bit of running down, partly because I was searching under the wrong tree in the literature, but turned out to be Ascodichaena rugosa. Very cute under the microscope, as is often the way with hyphomycetes.

In context - terrible photo though

Eutypa maura

On a dead Sycamore branch at the bottom of the path up the Cullaloe Hills

Birch leaf deconstruction

In nature nothing is wasted and not least vegetable matter. These nice three species are all findable on fallen Birch leaves at the moment

Left is Discosia artocreas, centre is Gnomonia alni-viridis (syn. setacea) and right is Venturia ditricha.

The Discosia is nice under the lens, with spores which have appendages and whose ends are entertainingly cyanophilous

These are all from Calis Muir Wood in Dunfermline

Propolis farinosa at Cullaloe LNR

This lovely species fills up holes in decorticating bark. In this case on Salix, though in Ellis & Ellis it can be found in the pluriverous fungi section