UK Fungi

Merismodes?

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  • February 7, 2016 at 8:21 pm #30096
    JennyS

      Found today on a small fallen branch – a Merismodes (Cyphellopsis)?

      Tightly packed very small hairy apothecia – some hairs had slightly swollen paler tips, one measured c.150 x 2.5 um. The substrate could be birch but there was also oak and a couple other deciduous trees present.

      It looks similar to a small patch of Merismodes fasciculata (on birch) that was identified for me by the Dorset CR a couple of years ago.

      February 7, 2016 at 8:52 pm #38090
      Steve

        Hi Jenny,

        I don’t know what that is! Has it dropped any spores yet? (it looks a bit dry – I stick a wad of wet tissue on dry specimens to encourage them to sporulate overnight)

        Steve

        February 7, 2016 at 8:57 pm #38091
        Leif

          Can you post a 100% crop from the image?

          February 7, 2016 at 9:31 pm #38092
          JennyS

            Hi Leif – just a pocket compact so this is as good as it gets I’m afraid at 100% – but hope it helps. The wood was stained brown below the patches of fungus

            wQ-Merismodes-4.jpg

            [attachment=0]wQ-Merismodes-4.jpg[/attachment]

            February 8, 2016 at 7:32 pm #38093
            Leif

              Hello Jenny

              Steve may be right, it looks a tad dry. All I can really say is that it could be a Merismodes species. I have only found Merismodes anomala, so this is the blind leading the blind so to speak. According to the recent Collins Fungi Guide, M fasciculata has significantly smaller spores, otherwise they are very similar. M bresadolae has much bigger spores and is very rarely recorded. Otherwise I have no other sources of information. So really you need more microscopy.

              February 8, 2016 at 8:50 pm #38094
              Leif

                A useful link:

                http://www.bioimages.org.uk/html/Merismodes.htm

                February 10, 2016 at 4:45 pm #38095
                JennyS

                  Thanks for the comments and links – specimen heading to the CR next week so I’ll update this thread when I hear back

                  February 12, 2016 at 8:57 pm #38096
                  Chris Yeates

                    Leif wrote:

                    . . . M bresadolae has much bigger spores and is very rarely recorded . . . .


                    It also doesn’t tend to occur on wood or bark, although the few records from Scotland were on gorse. The only English record on FRDBI was made by Stip Helleman in Devon (on honeysuckle); he kindly confirmed this find of mine (on grey club-rush):

                    Merismodes bresadolae.jpg

                    [attachment=0]Merismodes bresadolae.jpg[/attachment]
                    Chris

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