Salut Chris

the paraphyses are not thick-walled but they contain a refractive vacuole in the inflated apex. You did not see them in water? It would be intersting whether they were hyaline or perhaps yellow.

This is clearly a "Crustomollisia", a genus which can either be talen as a synonym of Calycellina, or treated as Calloriella or Micropeziza p.pt. I presently prefer to say Calloriella.

I have here species on herbaceous stems (C. umbrinella  = Allophylaria soederholmii), Quercus leaves (c. castanea = Crustom. roburnea), Cyperaceae/Poaceae (Pseudonaevia caricina ?= Actinoscypha muelleri; Micropeziza cornea/karstenii), and some others, but none on ferns.

You see from this that it is a rather confused though very interesting group, with these brown clods of exudate on the exterior.

I attach here a photo of C. castanea with yellow VBs in the paraphyses.

If there is anything in the literature that fits to your fungus I will see in my database.

Zotto

The only thing I got was Allophylaria filicum, but that is a hyaline fungus. Likewise is Pezizella campanuliformis.

If you could get some free spores (I assume it is not easy) then I could better see the contents. I think the spores are aseptate and contain larger and smaller oil drops.

The VBs you can only see in the living paraphyses. f you see them, you can try also Cresyl Blue for staining them. If there are any spores around, please check if the surface stains lilac in CRB.


Zotto

many thanks Zotto - I don't feel so bad about being confused by this one now!

I am keeping it damp for a day or so to ensure ripe spores, I am pretty certain they are non-septate though; I don't have cresyl blue, but Derek Shafer has put me on to a UK supplier who sells it in dry form as Brilliant Cresyl Blue; some places sell it as a solution - the formula being (this I understand is sold for diagnostic blood testing) 1% Cresyl Blue and 0.85% sodium chloride in water?

is the NaCl actually needed?

thanks

Chris

Yes, about 1% is good, but it is simply enough to create a blue solution which is added to a water moutn where it is diluted.

No NaCl necessary, this is, was you say, only for cells that do not have a cell wall. In fungi you would provoke a certain shrinkage of the cell because you take away the turgor.

Zotto

Hello Zotto (and others)

Yes, it has proved difficult to get free spores; see the accompanying image, the spores looked very similar to those in the asci being almost full of oil drops - I did however see a single spore (pictured - hidden beneath "PREV"!) which looks unequivocably septate; the VB's in the paraphysis tips are indeed pale yellowish (rather as in your image) . . . . all these are of living material in water
the excipulum is almost entirely covered in exudate as can be seen in the other photograph; this does not match at all well with a description of Pezizella roburnea in TBMS 67(3) page 481:
"margin formed of compacted slightly pigmented pseudo-parenchymatous cells"; I do not have access to Velenovsky's original description. Also the habitat is very different - am I correct in thinking there are not many ascomycete species which occur on both Pteridophyte and Spermatophyte plants? I know a few fern rusts alternate with Gymnosperms but that is a different matter

best wishes

Chris

Hi Chris

I attach here the paper of Svrcek where you see the brown patsches on the excipulum. Don't know what Hawksworth & Sivanesan saw (on Castanea leaves).

The high lipid content in your spores clearly excludes Calloriella castanea = Crustomollisia roburnea. I have a collection on Vaccinium stems from lapland which resembles your fungus also in the spores, but it was not very wel developed and remained unidentified. Spores were ca. *14-15 x 5-5.5 µm?, so yours are smaller.

Did you measure the free spores? They have a sheath which is typical of Calloriella. The septum is probably only present at an overmature stage.

Maybe it is an undescribed species, I found nothing on ferns in my database.

Zotto