Eutypella cf.

Hi,

I have posted this on Asco France http://www.ascofrance.com/search_forum/32836

and am realising that some of these small Pyrenomycetes are not just difficult but sometimes maybe quite impossible to name for generalist field mycologists – so I will share it with UK Fungi! It is still a lovely little asco and after all, unlike stuff in Sainsburys, none of them come with a label attached. We Homo sapiens just can’t help wanting to make a huge list of all the rest of Mother Nature Maybe its just our Mesolithic hunting and gathering instincts

This was found under a large elm, with birch nearby, and it had microscopy similar to the Eutypella stellata which we found close by. However, it had long necks and looked quite different. I suspect it’s Eutypella because of the brownish spores in biseriate 8 spored asci which don’t react blue in iodine. The fungus didn’t produce any spore deposit on a slide after two weeks incubation, but numerous spores were liberated in a squash of the mature jelly.

Stroma up to about 1.5 mm diameter. Protruding ostioles/necks are about 0.4 mm high.

Perithecia approx 0.2-0.25 mm diameter, about 9-10 per stroma. About a two thirds were effete and some filled with white matter.

Spores 7-8 x 2, slighly curved, pale brown. Jelly content is brown when squashed.

Asci about 70 x 8 um. They were hard to see in water, so were stained in Methylene blue and Lugol.

Paraphyses/hairs were abundant, up to 120 x 4 um.

Steve

[attachment=5]1 Elm Tree Pyreno.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=4]2 Stereo.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=3]3 Stereo.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=2]4 Asci 2.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=1]5 Spores.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=0]6 Paraphyses.jpg[/attachment]