27-04-2026 18:48
Tony MoverleyCollected 23rd April 2026, Norfolk, EnglandSwarms
27-04-2026 20:52
Lothar Krieglsteiner
Found on hanging tiwg of Olea europaea in dried-ou
28-04-2026 22:51
Bernard CLESSE
Bonsoir à toutes et tous,Pourriez-vous m'aider à
29-04-2026 08:01
Lothar Krieglsteiner
... on twig attached to small tree of Citrus auran
29-04-2026 10:44
Lothar Krieglsteiner
growing at moist, drying-out soil at the side of a
28-04-2026 20:33
Vitus SchäfftleinHello, I found Trochila ilicina on Ilex aquifoliu
28-04-2026 21:50
Pablo Sandoval
Hola a todos,Espero se encuentren bien. Hace mucho
27-04-2026 18:05
Lothar Krieglsteiner
... still attached at standing tree. The green con
28-04-2026 20:07
Lothar Krieglsteiner
... on twig in the air at standing Ceratonia siliq
Micropodia pteridina?
Tony Moverley,
27-04-2026 18:48
Swarms of white apothecia (0.1-0.2mm diameter) on surface of blackened Pteridium aquilinum (Bracken) stems, just below ground level.
Apothecia with short stalks
Superficial on the substrate surface (ie nor emerging from within the stem).
All white - no differentiation in colour between the internal hymenial disc, rim or external (ectal) surface.
No marginal hairs evident
Ascospores (5.7-) 6.4 (-9.3) x (1.0-) 1.5 (-1.8) n=10 with guttules at each end.
In the UK, collections like this appear to be recorded as Micropodia pteridina, supported by the entry in Ellis & Ellis Microfungus on Land Plants (2nd Ed. 1997).
However, Zotto Baral (Micropodia pteridina, a misinterpreted fern-inhabiting discomycete with unclear relationship within the Helotiales, Baral H.-O., 2023, ascomycete.org 15 (1): 1-8) points out there are several confusion species:
Psilachnum sp. (chrysostigma agg.)
Fuscolachnum pteridis (sessile and with marginal hairs so ruled out in this case?)
Mycroscypha arenula (but only on leaves, not stems?)
Mollisia sp.
According to Zotto's paper, these species can be differentiated with regard to exicipular structure, presence/absence of marginal hairs and apothecial stipe and apothecial development.
I have the opportinity to ITS barcode but with no publicly available reference sequences for M. pteridina, is there any benefit?
Tony Moverley
Norfolk Fungus Study Group
Hans-Otto Baral,
27-04-2026 20:13
Re : Micropodia pteridina?
Hi Tom
it is a good idea to obtain a sequence. The true M. pteridina is sessile and erumpent. This one has a short stipe. I am quite sure this is the sibling of Psilachnum chrysostigma, differing in the ascus base (without croziers). Do you think you can verify this? Only from the spores there is no real differences. I recommend to mount in Congo Red by strong pressure to separate the elements.
Zotto
Tony Moverley,
27-04-2026 21:23
Re : Micropodia pteridina?
Hi Zotto,
Thanks for the help.. I did try without success to find some asci bases to check for croziers, having seen you mention that Mariko Parslow examined 2 collections in the Kew fungarium labelled 'Micropodia pteridina' which turned out to be Psilachnum sp. (lack of croziers). I'll try looking again.
All the best Tony
Thanks for the help.. I did try without success to find some asci bases to check for croziers, having seen you mention that Mariko Parslow examined 2 collections in the Kew fungarium labelled 'Micropodia pteridina' which turned out to be Psilachnum sp. (lack of croziers). I'll try looking again.
All the best Tony
Tony Moverley,
29-04-2026 20:21
Re : Micropodia pteridina?
So I've tried again to look for the bases of any asci but without any real success. I think I might have found some but my confidence in proving a negative (ie that the base are simple sepate as opposed to having croziers) is low.
In the absence of the asci base feature, is there anything definitive I can say about this collection? ie that is definitely NOT M. pteridina because I have short-stalked apothecia . . .
In the absence of the asci base feature, is there anything definitive I can say about this collection? ie that is definitely NOT M. pteridina because I have short-stalked apothecia . . .