Please Check Mycoblastus sanguinarius Specimens
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In Spribille et al (2011) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/50891044https://www.researchgate.net/publication/50891044” class=”bbcode_url”> Mycoblastus sanguinariuscollections across the world were sequenced including a single specimen from Scotland (Loch an Eilein, Cairngorms). This study found two semi-cryptic clades one equivalent to Mycoblastus sanguinariuss. str. including the eastern Scottish specimen. The other included the Tasmania M. sanguinarioidesbut also north hemisphere material from north western and north eastern North America and eastern Russia but not Europe. Spribille et al did find one morphological character that distinguished
Mycoblastus sanguinariuss. str. from M. sanguinarioides: the hymenium of the latter had crystals visible in polarised light, while these are totally lacking from Mycoblastus sanguinariuss. str. I have been meaning to collect
Mycoblastus sanguinariusmaterial when in the uplands to have look myself, but keep forgetting. Finally I remembered when doing a contract lichen survey of Coed Cymerau, Ffestiniog, North Wales, a lichen rich ravine. Astonishingly this specimen proved to have hymenial crystals, so may be M. sanguinarioides, new to Europe. 
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M. sanguinarioides? in normal light 
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M. sanguinarioides? in polarised light, showing the hymenial crystals. This will need to be checked by sequencing (but my specimen is scrappy I was just expecting
Mycoblastus sanguinariuss. str.!), but looks promising. It would be useful if others in the uplands could check fresh specimens from other areas and seen what they get, or alternatively have a look at older herbarium specimens. All the best
Neil
OK, we now have conformation from Tony Spribille from the pictures that this is Mycoblastus sanguinarioides, new to Britain. It is not new to Europe after all, it had been found in humid lichen rich ravines in Sweden and Finland since the original paper see https://mycokeys.pensoft.net/article/13375/https://mycokeys.pensoft.net/article/13375/” class=”bbcode_url”> So hypotheses for those out in
Mycoblastus sanguinariusland to test: is the bulk of material is ordinary habitats Mycoblastus sanguinariuss. str. and secondly is Mycoblastus sanguinarioidesa species of lichen rich humid habitats? There are some visual hints for
Mycoblastus sanguinarioides, well developed Mycoblastus sanguinarioideshas flat apothecia surrounded by a thin ring of whitish thalline tissue, while apothecia Mycoblastus sanguinariuss. str. have a distinctly convex disk and a constricted base. My specimen is not that well developed, but the apothecia do not have a constricted base. 
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Mycoblastus sanguinarioidesspecimen Neil
An up date on Mycoblastus sanguinarioides. Dave Lamacraft has found some in one of the high altitude woods in Dartmoor, so that is new to England and, as with the Welsh record, it was found in a lichen rich upland rainforest. 
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A cross section in polarising light, with the crystals in the hymenium (the shinny granules) along with a similarly limited amount of red pigment as seen in the Welsh specimen (Dave’s picture).A great find: I would welcome any more specimens of either
Mycoblastus sanguinarioidesor Mycoblastus sanguinariusfrom anywhere. Neil
I’ve been looking at Mycoblastus sanguinariussamples when I’ve found it over the last couple of months- and not seen any shining in polarised light. Until this one (appalling picture sorry) from Borrowdale yesterday where there appears to be a line of shining “crystals”. Is this worth investigating further do you think? ( There’s lots of red pigment at the base and apothecia appear to be convex as usual.) 
[attachment=0]P2160433.JPG[/attachment] Hi. I took a couple of samples of Mycoblastus from our trip in the last week to Knapdale area of Argyll: two separate places. Both samples look more like M. sanguinarius s. str. as they are pretty convex and probably no crystals.
I’ll bring the samples to Edinburgh and hand them over…
Sample A:
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[attachment=3]P3010181 Polarised.JPG[/attachment] Sample B:
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