JonasRavn

If it is indeed V. ochrostoma, it would be the first record from Denmark, and I don’t think this sterile specimen is sufficient to document that. I do, however, think that the resemblance is quite striking when I look at photos and descriptions of V. ochrostoma, so I would tend to gravitate towards your option 2 or 3. I have visitied the location again hoping to find a better developed thallus, but so far without luck. It is quite nearby my home, so I will pop by there from time to time and update here if and when I find something conclusive.

I did not mention this before, but after cutting some sections, I can see that the thallus is rather thick and thought it would be worth documenting aswell:

[attachment=2]cf. Verrucaria ochrostoma 1-1.jpg[/attachment]

I recently spent more time than I would like to admit in trying to identify a lichenicolous species on Enchylium cf. tenax, just to realize that it was in fact the “host’s” own pycnidia. I had never seen any Collemataceae with pycnidia, so I did not even consider that possibility… The conidia are however quite characteristic (almost dumbbell shaped) and fit well with the reported conidia from E. tenax

[attachment=3]cf. Enchylium tenax 2-1_01.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=0]Billede1890_01.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=1]Billede1886_01.jpg[/attachment]

Lastly, I would like to add that even though no solid ID may come of it, I much appreciate you taking the time to answer my queries – thank you for that.

– Jonas

Indeed it has – thank you for your comments.

– Jonas

Thank you for the reply, I enjoyed following your identification process!

I may have misinterpreted the paraphyses as simple as I don’t have a good stain for them yet – they are clearly branched in your specimen and I don’t doubt that it is the the same species. I have ordered some ink and will try the ink – acetic acid stain on my next specimen.

My interpretation of the paraphyses as simple led me towards Biatora as I first interpreted the K/I reaction as the Biatora-type (and I am still not entirely sure of the difference between Lecidella– and Biatora-type, if I am honest). The picture of B. helvola on ITALIC (http://dbiodbs.univ.trieste.it/italic/italic07?s=246&us=admin) was a good match, so I thought the genus might atleast be right, but clearly that was not the case

I am interested to hear what you find out regarding the UV-reaction of normal apothecia. I made a very haphazard setup to do a quick test with no overwhelming results. I think I can see a small band of orange UV-reaction in the hymenium that turns yellow and moves “inward” when I add C, but simply replacing my condenser with a UV torch might not be the best way to test this and I suspect that there are some artefacts…

[attachment=2]Billede1858.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=0]Billede1881.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=1]Billede1876.jpg[/attachment]

Thank you for your reply, Neil,

The wall of the perithecia and both the conical and “abberant” pycnidia react K+ green/olive. It seems, however, that the globular “conidia” develop secondarily on the concial pycnidia – and that they occur in “chains”. I found a pycnidium with normal conidia on the inside, but with the grey mass on the outside. While I have no explanation for that phenomenon(a lichenicolous fungus, perhaps?), I am satisfied that the species in question is A. polypori.

[attachment=0]Anisomeridium cf. polypori 2-14.jpg[/attachment]
Thanks again for helping and for welcoming me.

Best regards,

Jonas

The [img]tag doesn’t seem to like flickr urls. Here are the photos:

[attachment=1]Athallia sp. 1-1bc.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=0]Athallia sp. 1-2.jpg[/attachment][/img]