Crust, myco, or not even fungal?

My first thought was a coelomycete but more detailed images are required.

Hi

without shots of ascospores or conidia there’s no chance of a name; definitely not a Hypoxylon. Black dots like these can be disappointing but occasionally something with rather smart spores can appear:

[attachment=0]Pseudovalsa lanciformis.jpg[/attachment]regards

Chris

Hi Chris,

Great photos!

How does one go about getting photos of the conidia and the ascospores??

James

One problem with this kind of find is that they can look similar whether they are forming spores or not (either too late, or, more likely in this case, too early – you never know). If it were me I would soak them in a bowl of water for an hour or so, shake excess water off and then pop them in a plastic bag in the fridge (or similar cool place) overnight.

Tomorrow with a scalpel or dissecting pin or whatever try to remove one of the dots (with as little of the bark/wood as possible!) and place on a small drop of water on a microscope slide; pop on coverslip and lightly press with the blunt end of a pencil (you can always use a little more pressure and/or slide some stain in later . . .)

then report back

cheers

Chris