Salut Nick

again I am admiring your drawing, including the inversely oriented spores!  Itz is Orbilia aristata. Previously called O. occulta, but that species turned out to have shorter spores with shorter spore heads, and is only known from N-America.

Only one thing: how did you obtain such blue apical thickening? I studied thousands of Orbilia asci and they were always inamyloid. But rather lately I learned that they stain red with Congo Red, particularly CR-SDS.

By the way, the three spores without spore bodies are probably dead, rather than immature. This is often the case with free spores found in a water mount.

In order to get a better image of its distribution, I would ask you for the collection data to include your find in our monograph of you don't mind.

Zotto

Hi Zotto,

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'm glad you asked about the ascus tips because I'm a little colour-blind.... Can you see any blue in the photos of my asci below? I had convinced myself it was there....

I should also say that I couldn't see blue on all the asci, so pehaps it is some strange artefact?

After a quick look at our UK database, O.aristata does not seem to have an entry (yet!),  and Orbilia occulta (Rehm) Sacc. 1889 seems to be synonymised with O.cruenta (!!)

Collection data:
On Salix (caprea?) 100m, Tilgate Park, West Sussex, UK 18/1/13

Amitiés,
Nick

Hi Nick

we also see a little blue in one of the two asci. Surely an atrifact, maybe of illumination. But I cannot see the iodine, it seems very low-concentrated. Usually it stains the ascoplasma yellowish, when it should stain an apical ring.

O. curenta is a nomen dubium. Massee and Nannfeldt put very different species together because they did not see the spores clearly.

I assume from your photo that the apothecia were on bark, right? 

Did you keep the specimen and has it a number?

Tilgate Park is a little large, can you tell me more precisely the place? near one of the two lakes? Or the parking area?

It is the first record I see from UK/Ireland. But I thought that Ellis & Ellis have it? Yes: p. 12 and 249, on Salix, as O. occulta.

Zotto

Hi Zotto,

Sorry, I should have included a UK gred reference: TQ 26687 34430. Yes, on bark. I've assigned the number 235 and will keep it in my personal herbarium.

I see now the description in Ellis & Ellis - I forgot they didn't illustrate all of the species!

I'll add a little more iodine to my Lugol's too! :)

Many thanks for your time & patience,
Nick

Hello Zotto and Nick,

I realise that this is not my enquiry, but I do have a British record for Orbilia cf. occulta (identified by Brian Spooner) growing on a thorn of Rosa canina from Chaddesley Wood, Worcestershire. This was also found in January.

The spores were slightly shorter than for Nick's sample at 13 - 17.5um.

To feature in my book as Orbilia cf. occulta, though I did suggest to Kew at the time that O. aristata was a possibility. The sample was retained at Kew as K(M)169475. 

Best wishes,
Peter Thompson.

o.k., I could transform the coordinates, it is at the very west end of the park.

Here  you can see the distribution known to me. Your find will later be included in the map.

I used N.A. for your herbarium and need to mention you in the abbreviations. Do you live in Crawley?

Zotto

Hi Zotto,

Yes,  I live in Crawley.

Peter - Thanks for the details - I look forward to your book (I think we need a taxonomically up-to-date work covering UK Ascomycetes!)

Nick

Hi Peter

you do not have a spore sketch of your find? There exists also O. clavuliformis (ined.) with more elongate spore heads and thicker and shorter tails, spore size very similar. 

Zotto