#ascomycota

some lil ascomycete thats all over my backyard rn. best guess according to iNat is woolly bird's nest fungi (nidula niveotomentosa), common across the PNW & northern california. theyre out in droves in our bark-heavy yard, but i didnt see them at all last year. maybe they prefer the recent dry weather to last year's successive atmospheric rivers. how fickle they can be!

as with the kingdom final, no propaganda from us. you all know these two groups, now its just a choice between which one you want to see for the classes

Anemonenbecherling, Dumontinia tuberosa 17.03.26

Teleomorphs of an Ascomycete (this was a cup fungi but the term refers to any fungi producing spores on what is referred to as the ascus). These are shown under the microscope with Lugol's solution at a recent fungal microscopy workshop. My last fungal microscopy workshop was on Basidiomycetes and it was cool to see the difference in cutting pieces of specimens to make slides, and the difference in spore-bearing structures under magnification. Lugol's solutions and other reagents can loosen tissues and dissolve pigments and mucilage, making spores easier to observe. Reagents can also produce color changing reactions that can inform species identification

Lysterfield Park, Melbourne, Vic

Nut disco - Hymenoscyphus fructigenus - growing on last year's hazel nuts

24/03/23 - NSW, Dapto

Glasscup