The microscophy is something I expect of an Orbilia:

The paraphyse tips are swollen and at least some cells are spherical

Even the spores remind of those of an Orbilia

Here a poor photo with 1000x magnification.
The spores are about 10x1,5 and seem to have a body.
The asci are about 30-40x4.
These grow in a plant depris heap on the ground.
I tend to claim, that some Orbilias don't grow very high. What a luck, even I can find them ;)

Marja

Hi Marja,
It's nice to hear from you again. I wondered if you had survived to Mellasco :-)

It seems that your spores show a long spore body ?
I guess Zotto will give a quick answer as soon as he recovers from UK.

Amitiés. Michel

Hi Marja

this night I recovered from England... ufff, lots of mails etc....

We had two collections of Orbilia atlantis, the one we had also in Melle, very interesting.

Now, your fungus could be interesting. The substrate seems a perennial herb, is it? Sorry, the images are much too unsharp. There is Orbilia rosella, and that species we saw only from the type and a single sparse living collection. Could youj please try sharper spore photos, or instead a sketsch of them? Also a look at the margin would help: is it a bit crenulate by short hair-like hardly glassy protrudings?

Zotto

Hi Zotto,

I'll try later. My led light batteries were weakening and now, that I changed them, the views may be better. Actually the photos are almoust as sharp as possible. I saw no more, than the photos show.

Yes, the substrate was a perennial plant, that has been lying in my plant debris heap on the back of my yard over the winter. The snow has now melted almoust completely here and the heap was revealed from snow about a month ago. So this species is either fast or has survived under snow...

Now I'm a little busy, the Gyromitra season is on and I've been picking them all the afternoon. Got about 30 liters and there is a lot to do cleaning sand from them and cooking the poison away for a couple of times. I'm fool enough to think to go and pick some more ;) The mushroom is absolutely delicious :)

Marja

huu, never tried Gyromitra. And they are not frequent here.

I suspect your light is too low and therefore you get movement and unsharp images. Coudl you please send me your photos of the Orbilia in original shape? I would loke to see at the metadata for exposure time.

Zotto

Hi there,

as an addition: last week I've found some Orbilias (hasn't studied them yet) on bark of salix, that was covered with snow. The salix reached half way over a dry dithc and was partly lying on the ground. So my determination is, that Orbilias can survive under snow. But this piece of information must be well known to Zotto ;)

Marja

yes, surely they survive under snow. A little frost they surely resist when hydrated.

Zotto

Yesterday I received the fresh sample. My suspicion was confirmed. The problem is only: Are Orbilia rosella (described on Atropa) and O. ebuli (on Sambucus ebulus) the same or not? The latter has acute spore apices, the former (my type study) obtuse apices. I saw now totally three collections with acute apices (the ebuli type I am still waiting for) and only the O. rosella type with obtuse. So probably they are two species, but to prove that needs discovery of O. rosella in the living state.

Here are the apothecia with characteristic crenulate margin.

and here the spores