Thelocarpon superellum Nyl.
Flora, 48: 261, 1865
Synonyms:
Distribution:
Description: Thallus crustose, not lichenized, consisting of scattered, globose to conical, bright yellow-pruinose, 0.2-0.3(-0.4) mm wide and up to 0.35 mm tall fruiting warts. Ascocarps frequent, perithecioid, immersed in the warts, with a concave, not exposed disc, opening through a small apical pore. Exciple 35-60 μm thick, colourless, without an algal layer; hymenial gel I-; paraphyses slender, simple, not apically thickened, c. 1 μm thick, as long as the asci. Asci many-spored, globose to flask-shaped, tapering to apex, persistent, the wall uniformly thin, I+ dark blue to reddish, K/I+ blue. Ascospores 1-celled, hyaline oblong-obtuse, thin-walled, 6-13 x 2.5-6 μm, often biguttulate-pseudoseptate and apparently 2-celled. Photobiont absent. Spot tests: K-, C-, KC-, P-. Chemistry: yellow pruina with pulvinic acid derivatives.Note: a pioneer, ephemeral, non-lichenized fungus found on soil, rotting wood or stones; widespread in the Holarctic region from the boreal to the temperate zone, with a few scattered records from the Alps outside Italian territory, but perhaps largely overlooked. To be looked for in Italy.
Growth form: Fungus
Substrata: lignum, rocks, soil, terricolous mosses, and plant debris
Reproductive strategy: mainly sexual
Pioneer species
Predictive model
Growth form: Fungus
Substrata: lignum, rocks, soil, terricolous mosses, and plant debris
Reproductive strategy: mainly sexual
Pioneer species
Predictive model