micros (scale = 10 µm)

micros

Hi Gernot

I think what you have is a Capronia, and it seems to be conspecific with a species which Guy Marson collected quite frequently on hanging branches. We also could not identify it though it is remarkable and little variable.

The spores reminded us for a tortoise, therefore we named it Capronia testudiformis. Of course a provisionary, unpublished name.

Try IKI and I am quite sure you will get the hemiamyloid reaction of the gel

Zotto

My ideas also round around Dictyotrichiella and so, Capronia, but the spores of Gernot were different of the species that I know. It looks like your testudiformis, really.
Alain

Hi Zotto,

thanks for showing your fungus, however I don't think it fits totally with my fungus. Your fungus seems to have spores with the typical "Dictyotrichiella/Capronia-colour", so a mixture of brown, grey and green. The spores of my fungus, however, are darker and only brown. Furthermore, the spores of my fungus are more muriform because the spores of C. testudiformis have clearly visible transversal septa while in my fungus the spores are transversally septate only in the middle, the rest is very muriform. Also your spores seem to be to small, can you confirm that? Finally, my fungus lacks a hemiamyloid reaction in IKI, in KOH + IKI and in Melzer's.

But still, some similarities are clearly existing.

Best wishes,

Gernot

Hi Gernot

you seem to be right, but the two fungi are really very similar. The spores in C. testudiformis are more regular and parallel in their cells, in some spores I see they are similar as in yours, and we named the species because the cells go round like on the tortoise carapace.

You are right with the spore colour. I noted mainly olive-grey or green-grey, also grey-brown.
Maybe also the hair colour is more blackbrown in testudiformis.

I looked up my measurements, and they are actually below yours, especially the width:

(12,5-)14-18(-23)/9-11.5 µm

And the absence of an iodine reaction sounds convincing. The hemiamyloid reaction in Capronia is quite frequent though not in every species. It was totally overlooked by the Melzer users, obviously because they did not pretreat with KOH. In this respect Capronia is possibly closely related to Epibryon for which the hemiamyloid reaction is well reported because the genus is more studied by workers coming from lichens.

Zotto

Hi Zotto,

so it will be another indeterminate pyreno with really striking characters. Still your fungus is close to mine and I will keep my eyes open for collections of C. testudiformis. It's still possible that our finds are related, who knows.

Best wishes,

Gernot