Hypochnicium geogenium

I always personally treat the (confident) naming of a resupinate as a minor triumph. This was named on the basis of:

* Protruding cystidia visible under the dissecting microscope (see central image). These cystidia without septa or ornamentation, and with colourless to very pale yellowish contents in the living state.

* Thick walled, hyaline spores, non-amyloid, but cyanophilic (staining in Cotton Blue in Lactophenol).

* Spore shape and size.

Based on the above criteria it keys out quite straightforwardly. Interestingly the colour illustration in the “Swiss Book” – Breitenbach and Kränzlin Vol.2 (1986) looks nothing like my collection, presumably as it is older, dried and cracked. Looking just at that one would never arrive at a conclusion, though the line drawings are helpful. This was a classic example of collecting what looked like fresh, fruiting material and ignoring a lot of what one sees – advice I would give to everyone, whichever type of fungi they are interested in.

Chris

[attachment=0]Hypochnicium geogenium 0a.jpg[/attachment]