yes, I suppose so. But the oil drops in the spores seem to have fused, should be more and smaller.

Yes, I see what you mean about the oil bodies. Most of the collections that you and others illustrate do indeed have spores with more, smaller OBs. Though some of the spores in your collection HB 9514-4a look similar to mine.

In other characters it seems to fit L. juncinum pretty well.

Marcus

 

Hi Marcus, and all,

The color of your apo suggests a nearly overmature fungus and the ascus shown is dead (no Pars Sporifera) , which can explain the fusion of the smaller LBs in the spores as Zotto said and the  less refringent VBs in the paraphyses as in this collection from Britanny.

Amitiés

Michel

Hi Michel

There are indeed differences among the collections. Your spore contetns look quite close to Marc's. A problem is also Nina's finds with croziers. And what about those with yellow disc and yellow VBs in the paraphyses?

Zotto

Zotto & Michel

Thanks for your advice.

I examined two apothecia and my notes indicate that the spores were fairly constant in terms of their guttulation.

I notice that Lachnum juncinum was originally described from Australia by Brian Spooner. I wonder how the Australian material compares to collections from Europe?

Marcus

 

 

 

Here you can compare. Regrettably Spooner did not look for croziers.

I recently found another Lachnum, growing on dead leaves of Cladium mariscus, which closely matches my earlier specimen and appears to be L. juncinum.

Apothecia have an orange hymenium and white hairy exterior. They are ca 200 µm diam, with a stalk ca 150 µm.

The excipulum is a textura angularis/prismatica.

Asci are 55-80 x 5-6 µm, arising from simple septa.

Spores are fusiform, 13-17(19) x 2-3 µm, with 2-3(-4) moderately large oil bodies.

Paraphyses are lanceolate, shortly exceeding asci, 4-5 µm wide, septate, with abundant small VBs.

Hairs are

I'm sure that both of my collections would have been named Dasyscyphus imbecillis (Lachnum imbecille) using standard British floras; the collection on Cladium would perhaps have been referred to var. cladii. However, based on Zotto's images and key I'm reasonably confident that both collections are L. juncinum, although the spores have relatively few OBs compared to most of the images provided by Zotto and others.

I wonder how many previous records of L. imbecille from Britain are actually L. juncinum?

Marcus

 

Lachnum imbecille as I know it has different spores (longer/narrower) with a different content (minute LBs). Also the paraphyses are devoid of VB-guttules (as visible in yours) but contain reddish non-refractive vacuoles, see my collage.

The two big LBs in your spores are possibly somewhat secondary, it looks so to me.  This is always difficult if the material is not in optimum vital state.

Zotto